INSTANT VIEW-Tsvangirai becomes Zimbabwe prime minister

HARARE, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister on Wednesday under a power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe.

Following is reaction:



PAUL MOORCRAFT, DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS IN LONDON

"The assumption is that money is going to flow in. It is not. There are a whole lot of benchmarks which are which are tied to EU funds".

"There will be emergency humanitarian aid for cholera but in terms of real change to the economy, money coming, in there will be very little money coming".

"My view is that the MDC is repeating what happened to Joshua Nkomo and his party. I think the MDC is going to be swallowed up. I can understand the MDC, Zimbabwe is in such terrible state but in a sense the MDC has undermined a major American push to put regime change and get rid of Mugabe".

"So it is quite complicated. There was so much pressure for Britain to work with some of AU states, and the Commonwealth. There's a whole group of African experts in Obama's team that was going to put pressure on Mugabe but now that's been stalled. That does not mean money is going to flow. There's a tendency to want to help Tsvangirai, but as long as Mugabe is still there, there can be no effective aid."



LOUIS MICHEL, EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR DEVELOPMENT AND HUMANITARIAN AID

"I welcome today's inauguration of Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. All parties within this power-sharing government must now work -- without delay -- to immediately improve the social and economic conditions for the people of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's journey towards recovery will be long and difficult".

"The new power-sharing government has a heavy responsibility to ensure positive change for its citizens. I can reassure the people of Zimbabwe that Europe will continue to offer its support to them as we have consistently done over many years."



SOUTH AFRICA'S RULING AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

"On this historic occasion, the ANC congratulates leaders of both ZANU-PF and MDC for putting the interest of the people of Zimbabwe and that country first. We are confident that leaders of the multiparty government will make use of this opportunity to work together to advance the needs of the Zimbabwean people".

"Not only is the development important for Zimbabwe, but has far-reaching political and economic implications for Southern Africa and the entire African continent. It will make a certain contribution to building peace and prosperity".

"The ANC calls on the international community to assist in the reconstruction and economic recovery of Zimbabwe".



MIKE DAVIES, ANALYST, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA, EURASIA GROUP

"It brings to an end the uncertainty over the power sharing deal to some extent. There's been numerous delays, there have been numerous disagreements over the various postings etc.

"Probably the major test for the MDC is going to be on the economy and its own legitimacy to some extent is going to be tested in the way it can actually now tackle the economy. It's going to face significant problems in that area.

"Obviously the economic picture is very bleak and it's unlikely that the MDC, in the way in which the dynamics between the ZANU-PF and the MDC within the power sharing deal are likely to emerge, are going to be able to fully overturn the economic decay of the last decade.

"The Western countries would be looking to unlock the investment and the aid required to really represent a turnaround is something which is going to take a longer period of time than just the fact that (Morgan) Tsvangirai has now been sworn in.

"There's going to be difficulties within both parties in the way in which this deal has come about. Within ZANU-PF, there's going to be people now continuing to try to position themselves for a succession within that party.

"The MDC has divisions over its own approach over whether this process is the correct one to be following, whether they should be taking a hard line and so as these dynamics try to work themselves out, I think we're likely to see a number of areas in which there will be concern and uncertainty.

"So although this is a significant event in that it has taken five, six months to actually get to this point, I think it still leaves a number of lingering questions over whether this represents the turnaround that many people hope for in Zimbabwe.

"It doesn't really provide clarity on how the transition arrangement or the power sharing deal really leads Zimbabwe towards a situation where investors or governments could actually have a clear indication that this is now working or that they can come in and play that role.



AUBREY MATSHIQI, POLITICAL ANALYST, CENTRE FOR POLICY STUDIES IN JOHANNESBURG

"There are two ways of looking at the inauguration of Tsvangirai. The first is that this is an imperfect settlement, and the balance of power favours Mugabe and Zanu-PF. Tsvangirai will probably have very little room to manoeuvre, but over time he will become as liable for the failures of the ZANU-PF government, and that is one of the unintended consequences of entering into the settlement on terms that are less than favourable".

"Another way of looking at it is that from an imperfect settlement may arise a lasting solution. That cannot be precluded".

"But I think we should accept that the settlement is going to hit difficulties along the way, especially if the MDC fails to tie Mugabe and SADC into some arrangement which dictates the creation of a climate of free political activity, leading to an early election".

"The current settlement buys time for Mugabe and ZANU to rebuild and reconnect with its support base, a support base into which the MDC had made inroads. Overall, I'm less than optimistic".