When I read that Robert Mugabe had begun to appoint provincial governors and other political appointees I chalked it up as business as usual for Mugabe. With negotiations still ongoing, and at something of an impasse, he simply decided to establish facts on the ground and thus to act as if those facts reflect ongoing political realities. This sort of hubris is familiar to anyone who has watched Zimbabwe for a long time.
Less easy to comprehend, even thinking in terms of the language of pure power, was Mugabe's decision to open Parliament despite protestation from the leaders of the Movement for Democratic Change. Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party do not categorically control parliament in the way that Mugabe lords over the executive, after all. And wouldn't you know it, Mugabe's overreach turned back on him. MDC MP's heckled Mugabe as he opened Parliament. And if that did not seem cheeky enough from Mugabe's vantage point, especially galling had to be the election of the MDC's Lovemore Moyo as speaker in a secret ballot despite Mugabe's machinations behind the scenes. The winds of change continue to blow in Zimbabwe. The only question is whether Robert Mugabe will live long enough to see their ultimate impact.
