Never count Mr. Robert Mugabe out. That is surely the lesson of events of the last few months. Despite losing presidential and parliamentary elections, facing regional and international criticism and potential isolation, Zimbabwe's president remains determined to maintain his grip on power.
In his latest maneuver, he apparently has split the main opposition party, tempting a faction head to join Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party in a ruling coalition, a move that undercuts opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and keeps Mr. Mugabe in office and in power. It is a political sleight of hand that offers Mr. Mugabe the veneer of legitimacy, while the problems that plague his country and threaten the region only get worse. It is not solution to Zimbabwe's ills.
Mr. Mugabe considers Zimbabwe his by right. After leading the guerrilla movement that battled the white-dominated Rhodesian government, Mr. Mugabe has served as president of Zimbabwe since the state was created in 1980. When attempts to rewrite the constitution to consolidate his power were defeated a few years ago, he embraced radical policies that redistributed land, drove white farmers from the country, and bankrupted what was once the breadbasket of Africa. The decimation of the economy strengthened the opposition, which in turn triggered a cycle of repression, international criticism and further retrenchment by the government.