I think you may be right - reports at the time suggested that when it was widely reported that Mugabe lost the election he was in fact preparing to announce the result and step down. It seems he was dissuaded from doing so by pressure from high ranking military officials afraid of future reprisals? Then there was no comment for a week or so and then all of a sudden the thugs were out and a new election was planned... I don't think he pulls the strings anymore