Word: mdc
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...change tack in December by calling for a new general election. Though he did not set a date, Mugabe said a vote was "not far off." The 11-month-old government of national unity, in which he serves as President and Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), serves as Prime Minister, has "lived more than half its life," Mugabe told the annual conference of his Zimbabwean African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). His party should prepare for a fresh vote, he said, in a spirit of "never [surrendering] your birthright." (See pictures of political high tension...
Tsvangirai is probably trying to avoid a repeat of the 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections. The MDC leader claimed victory in the poll, but a government electoral body said that he hadn't won enough votes to avoid a run-off. Security forces under Mugabe's control then allegedly unleashed a series of vicious attacks on MDC members, leaving some 100 people dead and causing Tsvangirai to drop out of the run-off days before the vote. Mugabe was declared the winner, but the resulting international outcry was so great, he later agreed to share power Tsvangirai...
...decision to enter into the arrangement in the first place. Since the deal was signed, Mugabe and ZANU-PF have spared no effort to sabotage it. The party has stymied the formation of a government by introducing endless procedural objections and by simply not turning up to meetings. Growing MDC impatience finally boiled over on Oct. 15 with the re-arrest of Roy Bennett, the party's treasurer and a white farmer, on charges of possessing weapons with the intention to commit sabotage, banditry and insurgency. But even here, Tsvangirai's actions have raised eyebrows. His decision to suspend participation...
...Tsvangirai has, in the end, given Mugabe exactly what he wants - sole power over the government again. As this has been Mugabe's aim all along, Tsvangirai's move is undeniably self-defeating. Karin Alexander, a Zimbabwe expert at the Institute for Democracy in Africa in Pretoria, says the MDC is giving Mugabe the opportunity to cast it as the spoiler of the peace deal. She adds, however, that the move might be seen as a tactic to impel Zimbabwe's neighbors to demand that ZANU-PF finally respect the terms of the power-sharing deal. Tsvangirai...
...Even if the MDC does have a strategy in place, it may have drawn itself into a corner. "This is a period of confusion. There is too much heat emanating from the frustration the MDC has gone through," says Tendai Nyamutatanga, a political scientist at the University of Zimbabwe. "But what will happen if ZANU-PF sticks to its guns? The MDC might be doomed." Ominously, when asked to comment on the MDC's move, Mugabe's party could not have appeared less concerned. Initially, ZANU-PF claimed to not have heard about it. Then party leaders said they didn...