On September 15, 2008, Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe for more than two decades, and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed a power-sharing arrangement to resolve a political standoff stemming from flawed elections earlier in the year. The Global Political Agreement (GPA) laid the foundations for a transitional government and outlined a time frame for the drafting and adoption of a new constitution. As part of the deal, which was not implemented until February 2009 under pressure from regional powers and the international community, Tsvangirai became prime minister of a new coalition government. Cabinet positions have been divided among the parties. Many observers remain skeptical that the parties will be able to work together to implement the remaining political reforms deemed necessary by international donors. The coalition government has faced considerable challenges in prioritizing development needs, attracting donor funding, and making the reforms necessary for the country's economic recovery. For further discussion of the coalition government and other current events, please see CRS Report RL34509, Zimbabwe: The Transitional Government and Implications for U.S. Policy , by Lauren Ploch. After years of economic sanctions by the international community and a decades-long civil war that resulted in more than 30,000 dead, the white minority rule government of Southern Rhodesia concluded a series of agreements with the black majority in 1979 that resulted in the establishment of the government of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Among the greatest challenges facing the new government was the demand by the majority for greater equity in land distribution. At independence, the white minority, who composed less than 5% of the population, owned the vast majority of arable land. Many observers at that time considered the country's white-owned commercial farms crucial to the country's economy, although there was a general recognition that land reform was necessary. Britain initially funded a "willing buyer, willing seller" program to redistribute commercial farmland, offering to compensate amenable white farmers. Dissatisfaction with the pace of land reform grew and led in the 1990s to spontaneous and often violent farm invasions. At the same time, the country's labor movement and a segment of its urban middle class were becoming increasingly critical of the government's economic performance. Facing rising political and economic challenges, the government of Zimbabwe began to implement aggressive land expropriation policies, leading Britain and other donors to begin withdrawing financial support for resettlement. In 2000, the government held a referendum to approve changes to the constitution that would allow land seizures without compensation, a responsibility that in its view lay with Britain. The referendum was rejected by 55% of voters and was seen as a victory for a new opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Within days of the vote war veterans and ruling party supporters moved onto an estimated 1,000 white-owned farms, and, months later, the president invoked emergency powers to take land without compensation. During this time there were numerous attacks against white farmers and their employees, as well as against supporters of the MDC; more than 30 people were killed. From 2000 onward, the country's problems deepened. Substantial political violence and human rights violations have accompanied elections. The broad scale of such abuses in the wake of the 2008 elections brought international condemnation, but little consensus on how best to stop the violence. Reports of government-orchestrated human rights abuses continued for months afterward. Zimbabwe's political difficulties were accompanied by a sharp decline in living standards, with more than 80% of the population living on less than $1 per day by 2009. Once touted as a potential "breadbasket of Africa," a significant portion of Zimbabwe's population became periodically dependent on food aid. An estimated 13.7% of adults are infected by the HIV/AIDS virus, and life expectancy fell from an estimated 56 years in 1990 to 44 in 2008. Foreign Policy magazine ranked Zimbabwe second in its index of failed states, behind Somalia, in 2009. Its ranking "improved" to that of fourth in the 2010 index and sixth in 2011, but the classification suggests considerable room for progress. Observers are concerned that the difficulties confronting Zimbabwe have affected neighboring countries and deterred investors from the country and the wider region. Zimbabwe has been ruled since independence by the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), which has come under increasing scrutiny from human rights activists, both at home and abroad, in the past decade. Although ZANU-PF now technically shares power in the coalition government, the party still controls the presidency and key security ministries. Critics have cited high levels of corruption, political violence, and strictly enforced laws restricting basic freedoms. The party contends that its detractors have engaged in a "propaganda war" backed by Britain and the United States, using democracy and human rights as a cover to push for regime change. Many domestic and international observers have judged elections since 2000 to be "far from free and fair." The country's main opposition party, the MDC, split over tactical issues in 2005; Morgan Tsvangirai's faction remains dominant. ZANU-PF has also suffered internal competition, and some observers suggest that opposition to President Mugabe's continued rule has grown within the party. In view of President Mugabe's advanced age, the issue of presidential succession continues to be a matter of intense interest to observers. Some analysts have expressed concern that Zimbabwe could experience a violent succession struggle or a possible military coup in the event of his death. Under the constitution, the president may designate one of his two vice presidents to serve as acting president until the next election should he leave office, but Mugabe has never done so. One of the vice presidential posts was vacant prior to ZANU-PF's 2004 party conference, setting off a power struggle that transformed the political scene by revealing internal party divisions. Mugabe, who will turn 90 in 2014, appears to be in no rush to relinquish his post, although some rumors suggest his health is deteriorating. Prior to the 2004 party conference, Emmerson Mnangagwa, then speaker of the parliament and a political veteran long touted as Mugabe's heir, campaigned actively for the position of ZANU-PF's second vice president. His selection to that position would likely have assured his appointment as vice president of the country, but Mnangagwa was caught off guard when Mugabe decided that the country should have a woman in the post. Mugabe's choice for the position, Joice Mujuru, was inevitably elected by the party to serve as Zimbabwe's second vice president, alongside Vice President Joseph Msika. Mujuru, a veteran of the liberation war and a women's movement leader, had been serving as Minister of Water Resources and Infrastructure. According to reports, neither the Mnangagwa nor Mujuru camps initially supported Mugabe's proposal in 2007 to extend his term, which was set to expire after the 2008 elections, to 2010. Once a strong Mugabe ally, retired General Solomon "Rex" Mujuru, Joice's husband, was vocal in his disapproval and is rumored to have been pivotal in blocking the proposal at the national conference. Some have suggested that Mujuru covertly backed another ZANU-PF official, Simba Makoni, over his wife as a potential successor to Mugabe. Makoni, a technocrat, was considered by some to be a compromise candidate, untainted by the corruption scandals that have plagued others. Mugabe's own choice for a successor is unknown. Mnangagwa appears to have reconciled with Mugabe, leading the party's 2008 election efforts and taking a central role in guiding the country's security forces. He leads the Ministry of Defense in the transitional government. The outcome of any succession struggle within ZANU-PF may be affected by the country's ethnic and clan divisions. Mugabe and other key party officials are from the Zezuru clan of the Shona people, who are dominant in a wide area around the capital, Harare. Solomon Mujuru, who like his wife is Zezuru, was a close advisor to Mugabe and was once regarded as a king-maker. His death in August 2011 in a house fire has been viewed with suspicion by many in Zimbabwe. Emmerson Mnangagwa is seen as a representative of the large Karanga clan, which reportedly feels that its turn to control the reins of power has come. Mnangagwa's viability as a presidential contender has been hampered by accusations that he led the purge of alleged regime opponents in provinces of Matabeleland in the 1980s, which is believed to have resulted in the deaths of 20,000 Ndebele civilians. The events of the 1980s help to explain why Zimbabwe's second-largest city, Bulawayo, has long been regarded as a center of opposition to the government, although Mugabe has sought to gain support by elevating Ndebele to party and government posts. Vice President Joseph Msika died in August 2009 at age 86. According to some reports, Mnangagwa lobbied, but failed, in the following months to have Joice Mujuru replaced as vice president with a candidate of his own as the party reconsidered its leadership slate. In December 2009, delegates at ZANU-PF's party congress re-elected Mujuru as vice president and chose then-party national chairman John Nkomo to replace Msika. Both Msika and Nkomo are Ndebele. The MDC party emerged out of the Zimbabwe labor movement. As poverty deepened in Zimbabwe in the late 1990s, and allegations of corruption against regime leaders became more frequent, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) organized a number of strikes and protests. In September 1999, the MDC was formed on this trade union base with support from many in Zimbabwe's churches and in urban areas.