Mugabe agrees to stand down as Zimbabwe president: source

[brooklynite]

Source: Reuters

HARARE (Reuters) - Robert Mugabe agreed on Sunday to resign as Zimbabwe’s president hours after the ruling ZANU-PF party fired him as its leader following 37 years in charge, a source familiar with the negotiations said.

ZANU-PF had given the 93-year-old less than 24 hours to quit as head of state or face impeachment, an attempt to secure a peaceful end to his tenure after a de facto coup.



Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-politics/mugabe-agrees-to-stand-down-as-zimbabwe-president-source-idUSKBN1DJ069

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Mugabe will reportedly appear on State-run TV tonight.

[ucrdem]

1. He just wrapped up his farewell address to the nation, in English

Long and rambling but not incoherent and fairly upbeat. He seems to want to keep a place for himself in the govt. Apparently both he and his wife were removed from the ruling party earlier in the day. No mention of elections in the speech however and Mugabe seems to think he's still head of the party. It seems he didn't actually resign the presidency either.

update: it appears Mugabe failed to resign, and talked about presiding at a party convention in December. But his party fired him and his wife this morning. Now they've given him until tomorrow afternoon to resign. And if he doesn't? Stay tuned . . .

[Henry Krinkle]

2. It's not like he had much of a choice

Impeachment was probably the least of his worries.

[marble falls]

3. Gentlest coup in ages. Almost as gentle as the Thai coups. I would have though he would ...

have gone down more like Nicolae Ceausescu.

[vrguy]

10. Zimbabweans are passive

It's in our DNA

[marble falls]

11. Zimbabweans are better people than I am. Best wishes for the future of you, your people and nation.

[lastlib]

4. Zimbabwe will be a better place without him.

Without this murdering thug in power, they can become a hopeful democracy. He has been a cancer on that country for decades. The hyperinflation of the last decade is only one example. His murder and imprisonment of political opponents speak for themselves.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. The man most likely to take over is called "The Crocodile". Don't get your hopes up (nt)

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Reaction to his non-resignation:

Last edited Sun Nov 19, 2017, 05:46 PM - Edit history (1)

Chris Mutsvangwa, who has been leading a campaign to oust Mugabe, told Reuters in a text message moments after the speech that people would take to the streets of Harare on Wednesday.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/nov/19/robert-mugabe-set-to-resign-as-president-of-zimbabwe-live?page=with:block-5a11dd9f60526906e8cb9b2d#block-5a11dd9f60526906e8cb9b2d

Link to tweet

Sky’s David Bowden said Mugabe’s address was “an extraordinary ramble by an old man who seems to have just blazed on through and has said we are going to have a congress in a few weeks time and I am going to preside over it”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/nov/19/robert-mugabe-set-to-resign-as-president-of-zimbabwe-live?page=with:block-5a11dfa0930f310725ecd8cf#block-5a11dfa0930f310725ecd8cf

Link to tweet

Looks like the bit about the pages in that last tweet may be real - from the link in reply #9:

An array of senior commanders sat beside Mugabe as he made his speech. General Constantino Chiwenga, the general who led the takeover, turned the president’s pages as he speak. Many looked stunned when Mugabe finished his speech saying “Thank you, good night.”

A microphone caught later muffled comments from the elderly leader referring to either a “long” or a “wrong” speech, leading to speculation that Mugabe may have deliberately or otherwise omitted pages or read content that varied substantially from that reportedly cleared with the military high command.

[ucrdem]

7. The parliament meets Tuesday and the word is impeachment is the next step.

It seems Mugabe knows the law and knows the military is under pressure to follow it from PanAfrican and international organizations so this is going to go on for a while.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

8. There is nothing left in Zimbabwe to save

and there is no guarantee that whoever takes Mugabe's place will be any better. The window of opportunity for saving Zimbabwe probably closed twenty years ago.

The South Africans are eventually going to have to deal with Zimbabwe and that might be easier now if that doesn't mean confronting Mugabe which was rather untenable to the ANC.

[ucrdem]

9. UK Guardian: Robert Mugabe stuns Zimbabwe by failing to quit in televised address

Chaos in Zimbabwe after Mugabe fails to announce expected resignation

President Robert Mugabe delivered a rambling address on live television offering no concessions, after ruling party Zanu-PF sacked him as leader

Earlier in the day, the veteran leader, who has been in power for 37 years, was sacked as leader of the Zanu-PF and told by 200 of the party’s top officials gathered at an extraordinary meeting in Harare to resign as head of state or face impeachment when parliament reconvenes on Tuesday.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, the vice-president whose sacking 13 days ago led to the military takeover, was appointed interim leader of the party.

Mnangagwa is widely expected to take over from Mugabe as president.

The moves by Zanu-PF follows huge demonstrations in cities across the country on Saturday demanding Mugabe leave power. His refusal to go plunges the country into deep uncertainty.

The leader of Zimbabwe’s influential war veterans said plans for impeachment would go ahead as scheduled.

{snip}

Observers say Mugabe is hoping to oblige the military to depose him by force, which could theoretically trigger an intervention by regional powers.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/19/zimbabwe-ruling-party-fires-robert-mugabe-as-leader