Some dictators seem to be on their way out. Fidel Castro of Cuba was one. President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe could be next after his ruling Zanu-PF party suffered heavy losses in that country’s parliamentary election.
After a long delay, the first results reveal that the main opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change, won more seats than Zanu-PF. For the moment, the delay hasn’t lead to the sort of public disturbances which marred the recent general election in Kenya.
Some world leaders, especially the UK’s Gordon Brown, would like to see the back of him, but Mugabe has been in this situation before many times since the country gained independence in 1980. Despite many economic and social ills ravaging the country, he still has substantial support (unlike Brown in the UK), and has vowed to fight a second round of elections, which are part of the country’s constitution, if neccesary. Clinging onto power is what dictators are good at, so reports suggesting that he’s preparing to step down are, for the moment, premature.
Sorry, Mr Brown, but Mugabe may yet be sticking around in African, and world politics, for sometime to come.