Looks like Mugabe will fight on a run off election in Zimbabwe. There had been rumors he might step down as a run off election would be "beneath" his stature, but no luck. His party suffered a major defeat in the parliamentary elections, but neither candidate reached the 50% +1 threshold to avoid the run off (well, at least according to official results*).
I've called Mugabe a dictator, and for all intents and purposes he has been, but he is (or more correctly, was) a dictator with a popular mandate. The disasterous rural land policies, including the eviction of white farmers, were driven by a real populist sentiment and a desire for justice. The farms which were siezed were created by Brittish Colonists who siezed the land by force from tribal people and then subjugated them in their own country as second class citizens. Mugabe's "land reforms" were popular and allowed him to reward his political allies while removing his political enemies. The fact that Mugabe was unable to rig the vote such that he "won" is more than poor planning, it's a genuine reflection of the fact that the political landscape in the country has changed.
See here for an overview of Zimbabwe.
*EDIT: Actually, official results have not been released yet. This is really "speculation about official results."
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