Parliament clerk Austin Zvoma told reporters the new parliament would convene on Monday.

Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said in a statement earlier that convening parliament would break a framework agreement governing power-sharing talks to try to end Zimbabwe's political crisis. "Any decision to convene parliament will be a clear repudiation of the Memorandum of Understanding, and an indication beyond reasonable doubt of ZANU-PF's unwillingness to continue to be part of the talks. In short convening parliament decapitates the dialogue," Biti said.

In March elections, the ruling ZANU-PF lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since independence from Britain in 1980, but Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC did not win an overall majority either.

The balance of power rests in the hands of a breakaway opposition faction led by Arthur Mutambara.

He has moved closer to Mugabe in recent weeks and any deal between them could weaken Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's most powerful opposition leader, and add to political uncertainty.