Its membership was set by the disputed 2008 Zimbabwean general election, which resulted in a ZANU–PF majority in the Senate and Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai control of the House of Assembly.

On 19 August 2008, President Robert Mugabe announced his intention to open Parliament in the subsequent week, five months after the parliamentary election was held.

Due to ongoing negotiations over the disputed election, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai party saw this as unacceptable, with MDC–T Secretary-General Tendai Biti stating that it would "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.

The three non-constituency senators appointed that day were Vice-President Joseph Msika, Patrick Chinamasa, and John Nkomo, who was Speaker of Parliament during the preceding parliamentary term.

[7] The MDC–T denounced the arrests as politically motivated and said that the police had entered Parliament and forcefully removed Mudiwa from the building.

[9] Mugabe opened Parliament with a speech on 26 August,[9][10] expressing an optimistic outlook on resolving the political dispute—"Landmark agreements have been concluded, with every expectation that everyone will sign up"[10]—while denouncing the West's policies toward Zimbabwe.

[13][14] ZANU–PF's Emmerson Mnangagwa described Moyo's election as "a truly historic event" and expressed his congratulations on behalf of Mugabe and the party.

[6] Following his election as Speaker, Moyo predicted that Parliament would henceforth be a meaningful check on the executive, which would need to "find ways of negotiating with the legislature in order to put through programs".

[17] Parliament planned to meet again in October 2008, at which point it would consider proposed constitutional amendments resulting from the power-sharing agreement between ZANU–PF and the MDC, which was signed in September.