Wednesday, May 12, 1999 Published at 16:47 GMT 17:47 UK
Devolution becomes reality
Devolution has become a reality with the first sittings of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.
The slow progress of talks aimed at creating a Lib-Lab coalition to rule the new parliament also threatened to overshadow the historic event.
Mr Dewar has indicated he would be prepared to rule in a minority administration if a compromise cannot be reached.
Michael becomes first secretary
The National Assembly in Cardiff was opened later on Wednesday morning by Welsh Labour leader Alun Michael, who spoke in both English and Welsh.
The first action of the assembly was to approve the nomination of Plaid Cymru peer Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas as the body's presiding officer.
But there was a shock for former Welsh Secretary Ron Davies - who resigned after a "moment of madness" on Clapham Common - when he was left out of the Welsh cabinet announced by the new first secretary.
New style of politics
Crucially, however, it lacks an overall majority in either.
All the parties have expressed a desire to ditch the adversarial tone of Westminster in favour of operating through consensus and partnership.
However, Labour is still determined to be the dominant force.
Mr Dewar is trying to achieve this by wrapping up a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
By contrast Mr Michael has already decided to run the assembly as a minority administration, securing partnerships with other parties on an issue-by-issue basis.
Anniversary of Smith's death
The parliament's opening day had a special poignancy as it is also the fifth anniversary of the death of Labour leader John Smith whose ambition was to bring about Scottish devolution.
After the 129 MSPs had been sworn into, the parliament voted to appoint former Liberal Party leader Lord Steel as its presiding officer.
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