economic empowerment, even if at present there is not much foreign investment to indigenise in Zimbabwe. Moreover notwithstanding the many problems that have emerged around the land occupations new constituencies have also been created in certain areas and the unevenness of the situation on the land means that, in the words of one scholar, “the overall pattern is not simply one of elite capture”.11 The implication behind this discussion is that underlying Zanu PF’s intransigence in the GPA is an economic accumulation project in which the military/security elite are key beneficiaries, but in which a broader grouping of beneficiaries may also be developing. When this process is added to Zanu PF’s looting of the diamond revenues, and certain limited levels of support from the Chinese,12 then the option for Zanu PF to continue its intransigence and if necessary drag out the GPA until it collapses under the weight of its own ineffectiveness, should not be ruled out. This has implications for discussing the political options in the country at the moment, and we will turn to this in the last part of this paper. Political Trends While the economic challenges of the Inclusive Government have been enormous, charting a path through the challenges has hinged on the outstanding political issues of the GPA. As of the end of 2009, there were some twenty seven outstanding problems to be dealt with, but four of these constituted the central items. These were 1. Swearing in of Roy Bennett. 2. Appointments of Provincial Governors. 3. Appointments of Johannes Tomana (Attorney General) and Gideon Gono (Reserve Bank Governor). 4. Sanctions. Moreover the prospect of another election at some unspecified point in the future has led to continued tensions and grandstanding in the negotiations between the parties. In October 2009 the MDC(T) made a decision to temporarily withdraw from parts of the inclusive government because ‘outstanding, non-compliance and toxic issues continue to impede the transitional government.’ In the statement announcing the withdrawal the Prime Minister observed:                                                              11  Ian Scoones, “A New Start for Zimbabwe?”, published 15 September 2008 on Livelihoods After Land Reform  website, http://www.lalr.org.za/news/a‐new‐start‐for‐zimbabwe‐by‐ian‐scoones Quoted in Hammar, McGregor  and Landau op cit. See also Ian Scoones, Nelson Marongwe, Blasio Mevedzenge, Felix Murimbarimba, Jacob  Mahenehene, and Chrispin Sukume, “New Land, new livelihoods: agrarian change following land reform in  Zimbabwe”. Unpublished presentation 2009.   12  Jason Moyo, “Trail of Debt all the way to China”. Mail and Guardian 12‐18 March 2010. The limitations of this  support were hinted at by Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara, in this same article: “The Chinese have said:  ‘We’ll not condemn you publically, but we’ll not give you cash’. Unless we do the right thing, the Chinese will not  work with us”.     7