Do you believe Mugabe will lose the Presidency in Zimbabwe before the year is out?

Personally could see things end up either way, depending on how much pressure foreign countries, and especially Zimbabwe's neighbors, exert on the current administration.

 

The "news of the Day" thread has a solid foundation of Mugabe discussion, but the way things are unfolding, he may warrant his own thread. We could make this the official Mugabe discussion.

 

Barring a full-scale, massive popular revolt that is of sufficient force to overwhelm armed troops, no.

Mugabe will continue to get away with it because Africa will let him get away with it. Any criticism from any Western democracy will be dismissed as white imperialism and there'll be a host of fools who believe it. Mbeki will continue to do what he has done for the last several months - zip.

As to the Q of why the people don't rise up - they've enough to deal with just living, the economy is shattered, the infrastructure collapsing and there's loads of government-backed armed bastards all over the place.

It's been said that maybe, at some point, there will be a Ceaucescu moment, a moment where Mugabe pushes it all so damn far the people simply lose it. at that point there will be much violence, blood and loss of life but it'll end the same way as Romania - Mugabe being executed by those he pushed too far. I'm not sure it'll happen though.