Tsvangirai takes his oath

The Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is to be sworn in as the country's Prime Minister today. His Movement for Democratic Change is to share power with Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party. Our Southern Africa correspondent, Peter Biles, reports...

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The inclusive government is far from perfect , but Mr Tsvangirai has taken the plunge, and agreed to share power with his arch rival, Robert Mugabe. The remainder of the cabinet will be sworn in on Friday.

There's deep scepticism about this process. At best, it'll be a transitional arrangement, leading eventually to a new constitution and fresh elections. Even as the final preparations for the unity government are being made, the MDC is still demanding the immediate release of all political detainees.

The tasks facing the politicians are daunting - an economy that has collapsed, more than half the country's population short of food, and a cholera outbreak that's affected nearly 70 thousand people.

Peter Biles, BBC News, South Africa

Listen to the words

sworn in as Prime Minister
officially made Prime Minister

inclusive government
a government which includes members from different political parties

taken the plunge
decided to accept a difficult situation

arch rival
an especially bad enemy

cabinet
a small group of the most important people elected to government

deep scepticism
a lot of doubt and negative feeling

transitional arrangement
a temporary situation

constitution
the set of political principles by which a state is governed

political detainees
people who are in a prison for political reasons

daunting
extremely difficult

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