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Mugabe 'stronger than ever'
21/09/2007 15:29 - (SA)
Harare - Despite an economy close to collapse, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe looks stronger than ever, with the domestic opposition in retreat and Western nations divided over how to deal with him.
Mugabe had brushed aside years of international pressure to step down over charges of ruining the once-prosperous nation, violating human rights and rigging elections to stay in office.
And now political analysts said the divided opposition, intimidated by security forces and weakened by tactical mistakes, presented no real challenge, giving Mugabe space to manoeuvre and to cast calls for his exit as a Western plot.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's threat to boycott December's European Union-Africa summit in Lisbon if Mugabe attended appeared to have misfired, opening a European split on the issue after Portuguese sources said they would push ahead without him.
MDC split into two factions
Mugabe, 83, last of the iconic African liberation heroes in power, retained strong support on the continent despite fears Zimbabwe's meltdown could blight the whole of southern Africa.
With six months to go before presidential, parliamentary and local government elections, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was riven by divisions over strategy, personality clashes and leadership wrangles, which undermined its ability to exploit Zimbabwe's economic crisis.
The MDC split into two factions two years ago in a bitter quarrel over participation in elections for an upper house of parliament, and had been struggling to find the same stature that almost won it power in elections in 2000 and in 2002.
Although the factions - headed by main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara - had found a common platform in talks with Mugabe's Zanu-PF party mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki, they had not agreed on a single candidate to challenge Mugabe in the 2008 polls.
Political analyst Eldred Masunungure said the split had left the MDC unable to mount a meaningful challenge in the elections.
Electoral bill
He said: "I'm not sure the opposition has its house in order, the leadership continues to wrangle, they remain indecisive and in disarray ... their support base is disoriented and lacks clear direction.
"They need to demonstrate capacity not only to win, but also to guide the nation out of the economic disaster."
The opposition was further divided over a deal under which the MDC and the government unanimously passed an electoral bill on Thursday effectively giving Mugabe room to choose his successor, but reducing his powers to appoint some legislators.
Lovemore Madhuku, chairperson of an MDC-allied political pressure group National Constitutional Assembly, had branded the parliamentary deal a "act of treachery" while rights campaign group Crisis Zimbabwe Coalition said the MDC had sold its soul for no clear gains.
Although Mugabe had largely cowed the opposition by routinely deploying riot police to crush street protests, analysts believed an organised MDC could still pose a strong challenge to Mugabe at the polls, exploiting discontent with misery caused by the economic meltdown.
Zimbabwe faced chronic shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency, as well as unemployment over 80% and the highest inflation rate in the world of 6 600%.
Once one of Africa's most prosperous nations, Zimbabwe's combination of poverty and Aids had brought life expectancy down from nearly 60 in 1990 to about 40 now, among the lowest rates in the world.
Mugabe, Zimbabwe's ruler since independence from Britain in 1980, rejected blame for the crisis, saying domestic and Western opponents were sabotaging the economy to oust him.
Tsvangirai - a former trade union leader who had been at the helm of the MDC since its formation eight years ago - was still seen as Mugabe's main challenger.
- Reuters
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