For a brief period earlier this year, it appeared as if Zimbabwe was on the way towards a democratic government and a solution to its economic problems. However, that hope faded quickly as the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), after winning parliamentary elections, had to go into a recall election for the Presidency. Intimidation and violence soon followed. Now current president Robert Mugabe vows that the MDC will never be in charge of Zimbabwe. The military appears ready to back him up.
Admittedly, the MDC is unlikely to change the current economic crisis in Zimbabwe by much. The government has stopped tracking inflation both because too few goods are on store shelves to track and because the rate of inflation is now possibly over one million percent. However, the MDC would be able to limit the level of inflation, as Western governments would finally lift sanctions against the country. Additionally, the MDC would be in a position to end disastrous land redistributions, which have severely deterred foreign investment and damaged the economy. Though these policies by themselves wouldn’t have been enough to turn around the economy, they would have been a good first start had the MDC been able to win the presidency outright.
All that seems unlikely now, given that the military will refuse to honor a result putting the MDC into power. As such, the future will likely hold more of the same for Zimbabwe, perhaps even worse. After all, with the economy thrown at the wayside while Mugabe attempts to try and suppress the MDC, and given the fact that the MDC won the parliament, at best deadlock on solving Zimbabwe’s domestic issues is likely to occur, and at worst the country’s condition could degrade even more so. Only a miracle can prevent that from happening now.
