The charm offensive by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democractic Change ahead of last week's Southern African Development Community (Sadc) summit created optimism that President Robert Mugabe - the region's oldest black sheep - would finally be brought to heel.

But like the proverbial cat with nine lives Mugabe left Windhoek - the venue of the 30th Sadc heads of state and government summit - with his head high. Instead of chastising him for dragging his feet in implementing the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that led to the formation of the unity government last year, regional leaders stroked Mugabe's ego by "commending the Zimbabwe stakeholders for their efforts towards implementation of the GPA".

The communiqué issued at the end of the summit also called for the removal of sanctions against Mugabe, further entrenching Zanu PF's position that the embargo is a major outstanding issue of the GPA. Sadc leaders also opted for the easiest way out to deal with Zimbabwe's refusal to recognise the regional court that ruled that Zanu PF's land grab was not only racist but illegal.

Mugabe says the tribunal that ruled against his government in a number of cases brought before it by white commercial farmers who lost their farms during the land grab had been hijacked by Western countries. The summit succumbed to pressure by Mugabe to review the operations of the tribunal.

All the issues flagged by MDC-T ahead of the summit such as the need for a roadmap to fresh elections and the need to put pressure on Mugabe to fully implement the GPA were not reflected in the communiqué. Despite comments by MDC-T secretary general Tendai Biti that the summit dealt decisively with the Zimbabwe question, many believe Mugabe stole the show once more.

Others have also questioned the MDC-T's strategy to put its hopes on Sadc to reign in Mugabe. Brilliant Mhlanga, a Zimbabwean academic based at the University of Westminster in the UK believes Tsvangirai has failed to understand that Sadc is merely a solidarity regional body whose focus was never to reproach or rebuke any member state.

"As a tributary of the African Union, the language of not wanting to meddle into the regional affairs of any sovereign state has also influenced the way Sadc works," he said. "After having tried to transform to the extent of working in the manner it is doing, one has to be alive to the fact that they still uphold their founding principles and they will never reproach Mugabe.

"As a result anyone who expected a different position on Zimbabwe was expecting too much. "Mugabe (86) is the longest serving president in the region and in Windhoek he was the only survivor from the club that launched Sadc in 1980.

The veteran ruler has also used the imperialism card to remain relevant and has in the process gained the trust of countries still led by liberation movements such as Mozambique, South Africa, Angola and Namibia. Outgoing Sadc chairman Joseph Kabila of the DRC is forever grateful to Mugabe for the military support that has seen him entrench his position over the years.

"The outcome of the Windhoek summit was somehow predictable given the perennial structural, moral and institutional weaknesses in Sadc to create a democratic dispensation within the region," said Trevor Maisiri the director of the African Reform Institute. "Firstly Zanu PF managed to manipulate Sadc to divert from the critical issues that have caused the Zimbabwean political logjam to focus on the contentious issue of sanctions.

"Sanctions are a resultant issue which cannot be addressed if Sadc does not enforce mechanisms for good governance in Zimbabwe. "Therefore by focusing on sanctions this exhibits a dysfunctional intervention strategy by Sadc. "Mhlanga said the MDC-T's attempts to influence Sadc from the sidelines were always doomed to fail because of the solidarity that exists in the region.

Emboldened by the outcome of the summit, Mugabe told his party's Central Committee on Friday that he would no longer cooperate with his coalition partners on the resolution of outstanding issues in the GPA until sanctions were removed. He said the two MDC formations can forget about having their nominees appointed as provincial governors as long as the restrictions are in place, a hardline stance that would have alarmed the Sadc leaders.

Nonetheless, the MDC-T can take solace in the report presented by South African President Jacob Zuma to the Sadc troika on defence, politics and security ahead of the summit, which calls for a roadmap to fresh elections and the need for the principals to respect the GPA. Mugabe was also given a month to fulfill some of the outstanding issues of the GPA.

Jack Zaba, a Harare-based political analyst believes Zuma's report read with the Sadc communiqué represents a diplomatic victory for the MDC-T. "Diplomatic victory is not always measured in absolute terms, but rather in relative terms. "Accordingly if the MDC-T manages to persuade Sadc to take an active role in ensuring that the path to the next elections in Zimbabwe is smoothened, that indeed is considerable victory," he said.

Zaba said sanctions can no longer be considered an outstanding issue of the GPA because all parties in the inclusive government have called for their review. But he said it was understandable that Zanu PF will continue to cling on to the issue of sanctions to avoid meeting its part of the bargain in the GPA. The analysts also expressed doubts that Zanu PF will respect the 30 day deadline set by Zuma to implement the GPA fully.

Maisiri said the MDC-T might have miscalculated by claiming victory from the summit. "Basking in the glory of the Windhoek outcome may turn to be suicidal for the party, as I believe that there are more fierce battles to fight now than before," he said. "The elevation of the political disagreements to Windhoek seems to have built a higher grand stage for the friction within government.

"Therefore the victory that seems to have come for the MDC-T may yet be creating bigger fights in the coming 30 days and beyond." Zuma was appointed by Sadc in November last year to mediate in the talks between Zanu PF and the MDC formations after Tsvangirai's party temporarily pulled out of the unity government.