A power-sharing deal - brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki, appointed as negotiator by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) - and signed on 15 September, was heralded as a new dawn for Zimbabwe. Instead, it has become a marker for Zimbabwe's rapid descent into collapse. Below is a timeline tracing the events in recent months.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won a majority of parliamentary seats in the general election on 29 March 2008, but failed to garner the 50 percent plus one vote required to take the presidency.
