HARARE: Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has described his power-sharing deal with the opposition as a humiliation but intends to remain “in the driving seat,” state media quoted him as saying on Thursday.

Mugabe signed an agreement with Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday, relinquishing some powers for the first time in nearly three decades of rule under pressure from regional leaders and a growing economic crisis.

Mugabe had told a meeting of his ZANU-PF party on Wednesday that the agreement was “a humiliation,” the state-run Herald newspaper said.

“Anyhow here we are, still in a dominant position which will enable us to gather more strength as we move into the future. We remain in the driving seat,” Mugabe said.

The deal with Tsvangirai and the head of a breakaway opposition faction followed weeks of tense negotiations to end a political crisis compounded by the veteran leader’s disputed and unopposed re-election in a widely condemned vote in June.—Reuters