NAIROBI - Kenya's government and opposition crossed swords in parliament on Tuesday, arguing and shouting over the vote for a new speaker in the first session since the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki.
Roads were closed outside and riot police ringed the building in downtown Nairobi as Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga entered parliament at the same time, without greeting each other.
It was the first time they had been present in the same room since the disputed December 27 vote.
Pro-Kibaki legislators stood up when the president came in, while opposition members of parliament stayed seated.
In the 222-seat parliament, the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), which says Kibaki stole the vote by electoral fraud, commands the highest number of seats, 99.
It hopes to elect its candidate Kenneth Marende as speaker.
As the parliamentary clerk called for a vote, opposition members demanded loudly that the election be public.
"We went through (national) elections with a secret ballot, and you stole the vote," said an opposition leader, William Ruto.
Government supporters called for calm, saying the rowdy behaviour was dishonouring those who have died in Kenya and that the vote had always been secret.
The parliament sitting began a new period of high tension after a lull in the crisis, with ODM planning to stage a wave of banned street demonstrations from Wednesday.
Former U.N. head Kofi Annan was due in Nairobi on Tuesday night to head a group of "Eminent Africans" trying to mediate between Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Joining Annan are Graca Machel, wife of Nelson Mandela, and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa.
Turmoil since the presidential and parliamentary elections has killed at least 612 people, dismayed foreign donors, jeopardised Kenya's democratic credentials and hurt one of Africa's brightest economies.
