Word: tsvangirai
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...Tsvangirai's move on Oct. 16 was prompted by the re-arrest of a prominent member of his party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which continues to suffer harassment despite the power-sharing agreement. Tsvangirai said it was plain that Mugabe's party, the Zimbabwean African National Union (ZANU-PF), had no intention of relinquishing control and forming a functioning government. "It is our right to disengage from a dishonest and unreliable partner," Tsvangirai said in Harare. "We have papered over the cracks and have sought to persuade the whole world in the last eight months that everything...
...This would be logical, and wise, in a democracy. And sticking to principles is also important, as Tsvangirai says, because fighting dirty usually ensures that one dictator will merely be replaced by another. But this is Zimbabwe, where a ruthless authoritarian government has driven the country into financial ruin and suppressed its political opponents through a campaign of violence and terror. Playing by the rules when your opponent does not can seem hopelessly naive. (Read a two-minute bio of Morgan Tsvangirai...
...This is Tsvangirai's dilemma, the same dilemma facing anyone attempting to engage with dictators around the world. The task Tsvangirai has set for himself - easing out the 85-year-old tyrant without resorting to bad behavior himself - is far harder than Mugabe's goal of staying in power by whatever means necessary. Because of this, Tsvangirai can often seem like he is stumbling in comparison. For example, when he says that popular support equals political dominance, he sounds like he's not facing up to reality - talking about the way things should be in Zimbabwe rather than what they...
...boycott the unity government now calls into question Tsvangirai's 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...
...Most significant, for all of his protestations about the other side's lack of integrity and his vows to govern alone, 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...