Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai may face final test

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's Morgan Tsvangirai goes into Saturday's presidential election knowing another defeat could end a political career that has brought him closer than anyone to unseating President Robert Mugabe.

Once hailed as the great hope of Mugabe's foes, the fiery trade unionist goes into the election with opposition ranks divided and with a defector from the ruling party sowing further confusion by running against Mugabe as an independent.

The gruff Tsvangirai emerged eight years ago as the first serious threat to the veteran leader, now 84, but a split in his Movement for Democratic Change in 2005 seriously dented his image and standing.

"For Tsvangirai this is not just an ordinary presidential election, he will be seriously thinking about his political future if he were to lose," said John Makumbe, a University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer and Mugabe critic.

Economic analysts remain skeptical of Tsvangirai's ability to revive an economy that was once an African success story, saying he has neither the experience nor the policies to do so.

Mugabe frequently labels Tsvangirai a "pathetic puppet" used by one-time colonial power Britain to try to bring him down.

The former trade union leader says he is his own man with popular support and calls Mugabe a violent tyrant.

Tsvangirai was hospitalized a year ago and said he had been bashed in police custody, an event which his critics say helped revive his sagging political fortunes.