Morgan Tsvangirai sworn in as Zimbabwe prime minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change, was finally sworn in as prime minister of the country's power-sharing government on Tuesday.
The historic event came 10 years after his party was formed to oppose the rule of Robert Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe to ruin in his 29 years in power.
In a marquee in front of State House, the tight-lipped and ageing president – who will be 85 next week – administered the oath of office in gravelly tones.
"I, Morgan Richard Tsvangirai do swear that I will well and truly serve Zimbabwe in the office of prime minister of the republic of Zimbabwe, so help me God," he declared.
A tight-lipped Mr Mugabe – who was accompanied by his wife Grace, in a lurid leopardskin-print dress and matching yellow hat – watched his new prime minister intently as he signed the oath, before the two men exchanged a double-handed, albeit perfunctory, handshake.
In contrast when Mr Mugabe swore in Arthur Mutambara, the leader of a smaller MDC faction, as deputy prime minister the two men smiled broadly at each other.
The event takes Zimbabwe into a new era, but Mr Tsvangirai has a huge task ahead of him if he is to rebuild the country, which is in the grip of a cholera epidemic, its economy destroyed, and there are no guarantees Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party will co-operate in government now that his legitimacy as president has been restored.
The unity government is a compromise and neither leader will be entirely satisfied with its formation – Mr Mugabe promised many times that his opponent would never rule Zimbabwe, while Mr Tsvangirai came first in the presidential poll last year, before Zanu-PF released its thugs in a campaign of violence that prompted him to withdraw ahead of the second round. Months of negotiations over power-sharing followed.
Sceptics fear that Mr Mugabe, who has time and again proved himself a brilliant political operator, will sideline his new prime minister, as he did Joshua Nkomo and Zapu after the Unity Accord of 1987.
The event itself gave symbolic weight to their concerns. Not only was Mr Mugabe swearing in Mr Tsvangirai, the latter promised to "freely give my counsel and advice to the president".
Washington Mdizo, the master of ceremonies, described Mr Mugabe as "a statesman of great luminous vision and hope, indeed a man of distinction", and did not apply any similar adjectives to Mr Tsvangirai.
Furthermore, while the MDC leader had demanded that 30-odd activists detained on supposed terrorism charges be released before the swearing- in, that did not appear to have taken place.
Ahead of the ceremony he told the South African television channel eNews: "There's a high level of expectation but I tell everyone we are starting from zero. There's nothing here. I don't underestimate the challenges but challenges have to be met.
"We are plunging into the unknown."
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