The power-sharing agreement signed yesterday in Zimbabwe could mark a historic transition from the political and economic nightmare that has engulfed the country for the past decade. It could equally be a terrible disappointment. Robert Mugabe, the ruler since independence in 1980, remains executive president, heading the cabinet. Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader whose Movement for Democratic Change won the parliamentary elections earlier this year, will be executive prime minister, chairing a Council of Ministers containing the same people. If they do not co-operate, it looks like a recipe for total gridlock.

The division of power between the two remains unclear, and so is the precise distribution of portfolios in the new government. Mr Tsvangirai called the deal a "painful compromise". Mr Mugabe, during whose autocratic rule the country has collapsed into political thuggery and widespread starvation, showed no hint of remorse. The problem of Zimbabwe "has been created by former colonial powers", he said.