MPs and senior officials of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change met in a symbolic "parliament" Friday to assert their new role following the party's victory in March general elections, according to dpa. "On that day on March 29, the MDC won control of parliament," MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said as he delivered a "state of the nation" address in a conference centre in Harare. "Together with our coalition partners, we have become Zimbabwe's new ruling party." Tsvangirai's MDC inflicted its first-ever election defeat on President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party by winning 99 seats in the 210-seat House of Assembly against Mugabe's 97. A smaller MDC faction took 10 seats. "We (the two factions) are going to work together now," Tsvangirai said. The 56-year-old former national trade union chief also won 48 per cent of the vote against 84-year-old Mugabe's 43 per cent in simultaneous presidential elections, according to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. A run-off election between the two has been set down for June 27. The MDC decided to stage the "parliament" minus Zanu-PF because Mugabe was delaying in calling a sitting of the new parliament, party spokesman Nelson Chamisa said. "This is the majority in parliament. We are going to elect a speaker. We are now waiting for the national parliament to resume." Tsvangirai described the state of Zimbabwe as "a state of despair," and "an unmitigated embarrassment to the African continent" after 28 years under Mugabe. The MDC would establish a legislative programme "based on the return of fundamental freedoms to the people of Zimbabwe," he said, announcing the MDC's "Restore Hope" campaign, to promote "national healing," to restore "the dignity and freedom" of people and public services and to return Zimbabwe to "the family of nations." "Our army will defend our borders, not attack our people," he said. "Our prisons will hold only criminals, not innocent people." He promised "a people-driven constitution" within 18 months. The government would also set up a "truth and justice commission" that would investigate human rights abuses, as well as corruption. The MDC's goal was "not retribution, but restoration," he said. The party would not victimize members of the security forces, many of whom are reported to be involved in the wave of violence unleashed almost immediately after the March elections. "The violence must stop," he said. "There will be no tolerance or amnesty for anyone who continues to murder, rape and pillage." One of his government's first acts would be to abolish repressive legislation. The MDC was also determined to address hyperinflation - reported Friday to have reached 1,700,000 per cent in May - "through a combination of demand and supply-side measures." He said the issue of land would be "completely depoliticized" and his government would establish a land commission to revive the country's agriculture system, on a basis of "need and ability" by people who wanted to farm. "Measures must be put in place to compensate or reintegrate those who lost their land" under Mugabe's notorious land seizures that began in 2000 with the lawless eviction of over 4,000 white farmers and triggered economic collapse.
