The leaders of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were set to meet with those from Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF in order to hammer out an agreement on a power-sharing settlement. yet I still am unclear why, exactly, Mugabe would yield now on issues he was not inclined to yield on at any point in the last six months and more. I hope I am wrong (though I am hardly alone in my pessimism) but I imagine Mugabe will find a way to scuttle any deal, either before a final agreement comes to fruition, or shortly after implementation, likely with the first clash between ZANU-PF and MDC ideals and desires.
And if power-sharing really does occur, and Morgan Tsvangirai steps into the role of Prime Minister? Let's assume he can help remove sanctions (which do not seem to me to be especially effective in any case; sanctions tend to be the preferred option for countries that do not want to dirty their hands but want to be seen to be doing something. South Africa in the late-1980s was the exception largely because of the nature of the Apartheid regime and because those asking for sanctions came from within the country. It is more complicated than that, but the point is that sanctions tend to be a pretty blunt yet also avoidable weapon against thugs like Mugabe.) There still would remain the tragi-comic inflation rate (and equally ludicrous fiscal and monetary policy that accompanies it); the ugly cholera epidemic that is merely the most visible manifestation of a public health catastrophe; and the reality that most of civil society will have to be rebuilt from the ground up.
In other words: Even assuming that this deal is the one that finally holds, it will mark the beginning, and not the end, of a very long slog.
