NAIROBI, Kenya — President Robert Mugabe’s 28-year grip on Zimbabwe loosened slightly Monday with a deal that makes his archrival, Morgan Tsvangirai, the prime minister, but there are major doubts that the complicated power-sharing arrangement will end the southern African nation’s economic crisis.
Under the agreement, which both men signed at an awkward ceremony in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, Mugabe remains head of state, with the authority to choose the 31-member cabinet. He also retains control over the army, which is blamed for brutal attacks on thousands of Tsvangirai’s supporters in the run-up to a widely discredited election in June.
The full agreement, brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki after weeks of often-rancorous negotiations, was not immediately made public. According to media reports, Tsvangirai will supervise the day-to-day work of the government, a potentially significant job in a country where years of economic mismanagement have produced one of the highest inflation rates ever recorded — an estimated 11 million percent.
But analysts said the arrangement would be uncomfortable at best, given the years of acrimony between the two men. During the election campaign, Mugabe vowed never to cede power to his rival, and experts believe that the 84-year-old president will try to thwart Tsvangirai at every turn.
“He’s been forced into this. I think he recognizes that he has no choice,” David Coltart, a lawmaker from an opposition faction, said of Mugabe. “I have no doubt that he’s going to probably try to buy time. And I think that it’s going to be a very difficult arrangement for Morgan Tsvangirai to manage.”
Tsvangirai won more votes than Mugabe in a first-round presidential election in March, but withdrew from the June runoff after security forces launched widespread attacks on opposition supporters. Tsvangirai’s party, the Movement for Democratic Change, said that more than 100 of its members were killed.
Tsvangirai — who has been beaten, jailed and tried for treason until a court dismissed the charges — said Monday that he struck the deal despite misgivings.
“I have signed this agreement because my belief in Zimbabwe and its people runs deeper than the scars I bear from the struggle,” he said.
Government farm seizures beginning in 2000 have caused widespread hunger, and after a poor harvest this year, aid agencies estimate that 5 million people — more than a third of the population — need emergency food aid.
Western countries, which pledged to help rebuild Zimbabwe’s economy if a deal was signed, eyed the agreement cautiously.
