The MDC have been holding power-sharing talks with Mugabe's Zanu-PF [File: AFP]

Austin Zvoma said on Monday that the MDC's Lovemore Moyo had garnered 110 of 208 votes cast in a secret ballot, winning one of the most powerful positions in Zimbabwean politics.

Paul Themba Nyathi, the candidate put forward by an MDC splinter group led by Arthur Mutambara, won 98 votes on despite winning just 10 seats in March.

Zanu-PF, the governing party which holds 99 seats in the lower house, did not put forward a candidate after John Nkomo, its chairman, was appointed to the upper house as a non-constituency senator on Sunday by Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president.

Analysts said this victory could deal a blow to Mugabe in a post-election power struggle. 

The Zimbabwean parliament met for the first time on Monday since parliamentary and presidential elections in March which led to months of political unrest that has yet to be settled.

MDC in control

The MDC now controls parliament for the first time but Morgan Tsvangirai, its leader, claims Mugabe fixed the result of the presidential election and pulled out of the runoff second round because of allegations of violence against his supporters.

Meanwhile two MPs of the MDC were detained on Monday as parliament prepared to meet.

Shuah Mudiwa, member of parliament for Mutare West, and Elia Jembere of Epworth, were arrested by police outside parliament as they were arriving for the swearing in.

"It's clearly a strategy to eliminate our members and reverse our majority in parliament," Nelson Chamisa,  the spokesman for the MDC, said.

Wayne Bvudzijena, police spokesman, said that he was unaware of Monday's arrests, and added "it would be illegal for anyone to be arrested while they were proceeding to parliament".

MPs were sworn in in groups of 10, with some of the 210 politicians having to stand as there were seats for only 145 people.
 
MDC members sat on the side usually occupied by Zanu-PF, heckling members of the party by shouting: "You sit on that side. You are now in the opposition."

Representatives of Tsvangirai and Mugabe have been locked in power-sharing talks aimed at resolving the long-running dispute created by Mugabe being sworn as president after Tsvangirai boycotted the June 27 run-off.

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