Mugabe’s Machiavellianism
So much for optimism. In a move that embodies the man’s hubris, Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party has negotiated a deal with the Movement for Democratic Change. The catch is that he brokered the agreement not with Morgan Tsvangirai’s wing of the MDC, which represents the vast majority of the party (and thus at minimum a significant plurality and probably a majority of the country’s popular support) but rather with Arthur Mutambara’s breakaway MDC faction. As of right now, the terms of the agreement are unknown but they appear to exclude Tsvangirai entirely.
Hints that something along these lines was developing came yesterday in a story (that I posted in my post) about how the negotiations were faltering and speculating that Mutambara might have a voice when all was said and done. The MDC has been wracked by division in recent years, but not many anticipated that Mugabe would be able to exploit that division so skillfully, though few will be surprised at his ability to act so brazenly and cynically.
This story gets worse before it gets better.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
[…] The Zimbabwean negotiations continue to provide a constant source of suspense and drama. The recent reports that Mugabe had brokered a deal excluding Morgan Tsvangirai from a new unity government appear to have been the result of confusion (or perhaps represented a trial balloon that lost air quickly upon release). The talks continued through last night, but adjourned with no agreement reached and the most contentious issues still far from decided. It is unclear if or when the negotiations will recommence, and whether the latest impasse represents a failure of either side to blink first in the ongoing stare-down. Morgan Tsvangirai continues to strike a deserved pose of integrity and honor. He continues to speak out against the country’s humanitarian crisis and to insist that any agreement that he and the other parties to the negotiations reach represents the will of the people. This insistence may well have led to the talk about a deal that excluded his (overwhelming majority) wing of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). But any deal that lacked Tsvangirai’s involvement would have been an utter farce. Tsvangirai also continues to be the consummate politician, asserting that there is no deadlock and that he will continue to work toward a resolution. […]