Mugabe agrees to phony coalition with minor party

Guardian:

Robert Mugabe reached a deal to form a coalition government with a minor opposition faction yesterday, in the hope of winning international legitimacy after talks with his main rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, collapsed when Zimbabwe's president refused to relinquish power.

Mugabe's agreement with Arthur Mutambara, leader of a breakaway group from Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, to form a national unity administration will give him control of the new parliament. But it will not open the door to the foreign aid Zimbabwe desperately needs to stabilise its wrecked economy, collapsing under the weight of inflation estimated at above 10m per cent.

Britain and other foreign donors have said they will not unlock a £1bn aid package until Mugabe relinquishes power to Tsvangirai, who won the first round of presidential elections in March but withdrew from a run-off contest three months later amid a state-sponsored campaign of murder, beatings and abductions against his supporters.

The terms of the deal with Mutambara were not immediately clear, although it is likely that Mugabe offered him the newly created post of prime minister or a vice-presidency and some cabinet posts. Mugabe, however, will retain real power.

Mutambara's faction holds just 10 seats in parliament but they represent the balance of power, and will keep Zanu-PF in control after it lost its outright majority in March for the first time since independence 28 years ago.

Mutambara is an Oxford-educated robotics professor, who appeared to look down on Tsvangirai as his intellectual inferior but who failed to connect with the mass of voters. Mutambara said he would make an announcement today.

...

This deal condemns Zimbabwe to more misrule by the most inept leader in the history of governments. Mugabe's name will become a metaphor for governmental incompetence. It will also become a metaphor for despots. If Mbeki thinks this gets South Africa off the hook he is as goofy as Mugabe.