Mugabe and his president for life dream

Being president for life is, for some people - very few people - an obsession. After leading the war campaign to overthrow white rule in Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe always felt he was entitled to be president for life. And if he hadn't abused the system so much and hadn't allowed his wife and her cronies to feed off the country's dwindling finances, he might have made it. But having been president for 37 years, an absolute ruler, you could see from his rambling, longwinded speeches, often very critical of Britain, that he was in his dotage and no longer capable of running a country, let alone his wife. He's still hanging on, but it won't be for long. The trouble is, what does a president of 37 years standing do in retirement? It must need a counsellor of unbelievable tact and cunning to explain to such a man that he is no longer in charge and must start reading all those thrillers he meant to read while he was running the country. I often wonder what President Putin will do when he eventually relinquinshes power, although I bet he sees himself as president for life, just like Mugabe. By the time his term is up, he will no doubt find some clever legislative clause to allow him to stay on. He did it before. Can you imagine Russia without Putin in power? I can't. The same goes for Angela Merkel. She has been around for so long that it is difficult to envisage her being ousted and going into retirement. She's in real trouble because her coalition partners are no longer happy being her coalition partners. So she will have such a small minority backing her as leader that she may have to call another election. Theresa May must be looking with grim foreboding at what is happening in Berlin. Now Theresa obviously would never have considered being UK leader for life. She couldn't anyway under our political system. But she certainy wants to hang on for as long as possible. That thing about power does become obsessional. There's nothing worse in politics than being in opposition. Mugabe is going through the withdrawal symptoms right now, hanging on for dear life because he can't bear the thought of someone else coming in to replace him. Putin just won't let it happen, full stop!! Trump, dear God, has, theoretically, another seven years to go, and Angela Merkel could be out on her ear if there is another election athough somehow I think she will survive. Her country needs her. Mind you, that's what Margaret Thatcher thought and then all those nasty Tory grandees stabbed her in the back, and she was finished, shedding a very visible tear at the back of her official car as she left Downing Street as ex-Prime Minister. Perhaps it all ends in tears, whoever you are. Take note, Mugabe, Putin et al.