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Mugabe 1 - 0 Mnangagwa - Zanu-PF now seeks impeachment
20 Nov 2017 at 07:12hrs | Views
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe ignored continued calls to step down on Sunday - a stubborn defiance that could trigger impeachment proceedings as early as Monday.
Before Mugabe addressed the nation, multiple media outlets cited government sources to report that the 93-year-old leader - under house arrest following an apparent coup - was going to step down.
But in a speech about political division, Mugabe refused to say he was resigning.
"We cannot be guided by bitterness or vengefulness - both of which would not make us any better," he told the nation, seated at a table with military and political leaders around him.
The nonagenarian promised to address his regime's shortcomings.
"The government remains committed to improving the social and material conditions of the people," Mugabe said.
He vowed that he will be running an upcoming session of his party's congress.
"I will preside over its processes, which must not be prepossessed by any acts calculated to undermine it or compromise the outcomes in the eyes of the public," he said.
Hours earlier, Mugabe was fired by his own party as its leader.
The central committee of his ruling Zanu PF party told Mugabe to resign by noon Monday or face impeachment.
"I don't see us failing to proceed with the impeachment," said Zanu PF's chief whip Lovemore Matuke.
Mugabe's failure to resign stunned Zimbabwean officials.
"This dictator has absolutely no right to play ping-pong with our people," tweeted former Zimbabwe Finance Minister Tendai Biti.
Mugabe seemed to be on his last legs after the army rolled through the capital city of Harare and limited the long-standing ruler to his presidential home on Wednesday.
Zanu PF party replaced him as its leader with former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa - who had been fired by Mugabe two weeks ago.
Party leaders also expelled Mugabe's wife, Grace, whom the embattled president had set up to be his eventual successor after Mnangagwa's firing.
"I am baffled. It's not just me, it's the whole nation," opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said.
Chris Mutsvangwa, the leader of a group of veterans from the liberation war who have been pushing for Mugabe's ouster, called on protesters to take to the streets, saying he would "proceed with the will of the people of Zimbabwe."
He said: "The choice will be on the armed forces of Zimbabwe to decide whether they will carry on [Mugabe's] wishes against the wishes of the people."
Before Mugabe addressed the nation, multiple media outlets cited government sources to report that the 93-year-old leader - under house arrest following an apparent coup - was going to step down.
But in a speech about political division, Mugabe refused to say he was resigning.
"We cannot be guided by bitterness or vengefulness - both of which would not make us any better," he told the nation, seated at a table with military and political leaders around him.
The nonagenarian promised to address his regime's shortcomings.
"The government remains committed to improving the social and material conditions of the people," Mugabe said.
He vowed that he will be running an upcoming session of his party's congress.
"I will preside over its processes, which must not be prepossessed by any acts calculated to undermine it or compromise the outcomes in the eyes of the public," he said.
Hours earlier, Mugabe was fired by his own party as its leader.
The central committee of his ruling Zanu PF party told Mugabe to resign by noon Monday or face impeachment.
"I don't see us failing to proceed with the impeachment," said Zanu PF's chief whip Lovemore Matuke.
Mugabe's failure to resign stunned Zimbabwean officials.
"This dictator has absolutely no right to play ping-pong with our people," tweeted former Zimbabwe Finance Minister Tendai Biti.
Mugabe seemed to be on his last legs after the army rolled through the capital city of Harare and limited the long-standing ruler to his presidential home on Wednesday.
Zanu PF party replaced him as its leader with former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa - who had been fired by Mugabe two weeks ago.
Party leaders also expelled Mugabe's wife, Grace, whom the embattled president had set up to be his eventual successor after Mnangagwa's firing.
"I am baffled. It's not just me, it's the whole nation," opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said.
Chris Mutsvangwa, the leader of a group of veterans from the liberation war who have been pushing for Mugabe's ouster, called on protesters to take to the streets, saying he would "proceed with the will of the people of Zimbabwe."
He said: "The choice will be on the armed forces of Zimbabwe to decide whether they will carry on [Mugabe's] wishes against the wishes of the people."
Source - Agencies
