Harare/Johannesburg - Arch rivals Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change, signed an historic power-sharing deal Monday,
ending Mugabe's 28-year monopoly on power.
Under the deal, Mugabe remains president with fewer powers while
Tsvangirai becomes prime minister.
The agreement caps nearly six months of worsening political turmoil
in Zimbabwe, starting with March elections:
- March 29: Zimbabweans vote in relatively peaceful presidential
and parliamentary elections.
- April 2: Results from the parliamentary vote show Tsvangirai's
MDC inflicting its first-ever defeat on Mugabe's Zanu-PF, with 99
seats to Zanu-PF's 97 and 10 for an MDC offshoot.
- May 2: Presidential results are released after a more than a
month-long delay, showing Tsvangirai taking more votes than Mugabe but
not enough for an outright victory.
- May 24: Tsvangirai returns to Zimbabwe from more than a month of
self-imposed exile in South Africa and Botswana to campaign in the
June presidential runoff. He is detained several times without charge.
- June 5: The government orders 'pro-MDC' NGOs and humanitarian
agencies to suspend their aid operations, provoking an international
outcry.
- June 22: Tsvangirai withdraws from the runoff after scores of his
supporters were killed in a campaign of political violence by pro-
Mugabe youth militia, war veterans and soldiers.
- June 27-28: Mugabe wins the uncontested second-round vote without
and is sworn in as president for another five years. African election
observers say the election lacked legitimacy, while the West calls it
a 'sham.'
- July 1: An African Union summit in Egypt recommends Mugabe and
Tsvangirai form a government of national unity.
- July 21: At their first face-to-face meeting in 10 years, the two
leaders agree to talks.
- August 9-12: South African President Thabo Mbeki, the regional
mediator, flies to Harare in hopes of cementing a power-sharing deal.
Talks break down three days later, after Tsvangirai refuses to accept
a junior partnership.
- August 17: A Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit
in Johannesburg fails to resolve the deadlock.
- August 19: Inflation in Zimbabwe reaches a record 11.2 million
per cent.
- August 25: Tsvangirai's MDC scores a key victory in winning the
post of Parliament speaker with support from some Zanu-PF deputies.
- August 26: Mugabe is humiliated as he opens Parliament to MDC
jeers.
- September 11: Mugabe, Tsvangirai and MDC faction leader Arthur
Mutambara agree on a landmark deal to share power in a unity
government.
- September 15: The three leaders sign the deal at a ceremony in
Harare.
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