Mr Tsvangirai immediately won over near-destitute government workers, police and soldiers by promising that they will be paid in foreign currency because the Zimbabwean dollar is now worthless.

He said he wanted to see public servants, teachers and nurses back at work on Monday to get schools and hospitals open again and the country moving.

"These hard-currency salaries will enable people to go to work, to feed their families and to survive until such time that we can begin to sustain ourselves as a country," he said.

Addressing thousands of people at a Harare stadium, Mr Tsvangirai acknowledged that sharing power with Mr Mugabe was not ideal.

"There can be no turning back on the political agreement, which each party has signed, knowing it is not a perfect agreement but still a workable one," he said.

This agreement, "if implemented with good faith, will deliver a peaceful way forward toward a stable economy, a new constitution and free and fair elections".

Many sceptics question whether Mr Tsvangirai's partner in government has any intention of acting in good faith. The power-sharing agreement has been scorned by critics at home and abroad, who fear Mr Mugabe will outmanoeuvre Mr Tsvangirai and maintain control of government.

Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change acknowledges that it made a mistake in not agreeing to the division of cabinet seats before signing the deal in September, allowing Mr Mugabe to retain control of powerful security posts. But the agreement considerably waters down Mr Mugabe's powers, and the act of forcing the president to sign was itself an indication of his diminishing control.

In his speech on Wednesday, Mr Tsvangirai put himself forward as firmly in control of policy in the government, although Mr Mugabe will also chair meetings of the cabinet, which is roughly split between the two sides.

Mr Tsvangirai said the MDC, which has a slim parliamentary majority, would "pass legislation to restore the people's freedoms", re-establish the rule of law after years in which the ruling ZANU-PF murdered and terrorised its opponents, and allow a free press to operate again after it was shut down by Mr Mugabe. Mr Tsvangirai also said the Parliament would lay the ground for a new constitution before fresh elections.

"Our second priority is tackling the humanitarian crisis with every means possible," he said. "In the immediate days ahead we will focus on the cholera crisis." More than 3300 Zimbabweans have died of cholera and about 70,000 have been infected.

In addition, about 7 million people are in need of food aid after the collapse of agriculture.

Mr Tsvangirai appealed for foreign governments to help but recognised that before substantial aid comes, his Government would have to prove that it was able to deliver on its promises.

Guardian News & Media