News / National
Mugabe to consider retiring
20 Mar 2016 at 20:02hrs | Views
President Robert Mugabe on Friday said war veterans had indicated they wanted him to retire and he would consider it if they asked him directly.
Mugabe, at 92 Africa's oldest leader, pointed out however that others had tried to push him out in the past and failed.
He told supporters at a rally in Bindura that leaders of the Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans Association (ZLWVA) were pushing for him to step down.
Mugabe, himself a war veteran and patron of the ZLWVA, said the organisation would hold a "frank" meeting with him in the first week of April, where the veterans should freely express their views.
"They have this thinking that the president has overstayed and should go. So war veterans come to Harare ... so that we can discuss this. No one should intimidate anyone," Mugabe said in his native Shona language.
"We will be saying: speak your mind. I will leave if that's what you want. It has to come through the party. But will that help you at this moment?"
Mugabe said he was surprised by calls for him to step down midway through his five-year presidential term.
"Wait until we go to congress. If there are those you think can do a better job than the president, you then choose them. If congress approves them, fine," he told Friday's rally.
Zanu PF's next leadership congress is due in 2019, a year after a presidential vote. No senior party members are expected to openly challenge the veteran leader.
Mugabe, at 92 Africa's oldest leader, pointed out however that others had tried to push him out in the past and failed.
He told supporters at a rally in Bindura that leaders of the Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans Association (ZLWVA) were pushing for him to step down.
Mugabe, himself a war veteran and patron of the ZLWVA, said the organisation would hold a "frank" meeting with him in the first week of April, where the veterans should freely express their views.
"We will be saying: speak your mind. I will leave if that's what you want. It has to come through the party. But will that help you at this moment?"
Mugabe said he was surprised by calls for him to step down midway through his five-year presidential term.
"Wait until we go to congress. If there are those you think can do a better job than the president, you then choose them. If congress approves them, fine," he told Friday's rally.
Zanu PF's next leadership congress is due in 2019, a year after a presidential vote. No senior party members are expected to openly challenge the veteran leader.
Source - online
