MPS moving to seal Mugabe’s fate
ZIMBABWE: Robert Mugabe is believed to be on the verge of resigning as Zimbabwe’s president after he was presented with plans to unseat him via a vote of no confidence in parliament, sources in the capital, Harare, say.
Senior sources in the military and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the main opposition party, said preparations had been made for the vote to end Mugabe’s 37-year rule as early as Tuesday.
The parliamentary motion, which would see opposition members voting alongside dissenting members of the ruling Zanupf party, would require a simple majority to pass.
Mugabe, 93, has defied calls to resign since the military arrested him and his family on Wednesday in a coup designed to prevent his wife, Grace, from succeeding him as president.
His fate was sealed yesterday after many of his supporters in G40, the faction within Zanu-pf which supported Grace Mugabe’s bid for power, deserted him out of fear of the military and a recognition that broad swathes of the public are already celebrating his pending departure.
Mugabe unexpectedly drove from his lavish ‘‘Blue Roof’’ compound, where he had been confined, to State House, his official residence in Harare, where official media pictured him meeting General Constantino Chiwenga, the head of the armed forces and the executor of the coup, and South African mediators from regional bloc the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Mugabe spent nearly an entire afternoon locked in talks with senior military officers and the SADC envoys. Photographs later emerged of Chiwenga warmly shaking the president’s hand.
The two envoys sent via Jacob Zuma, the South African president, returned to South Africa apparently satisfied that Mugabe was willing to leave office of his own accord, avoiding an unconstitutional seizure of power.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the MDC, who shared power with Mugabe between 2009 and 2013, added his voice to those calling on him to step aside. ‘‘In the interest of the people of Zimbabwe, Mr Robert Mugabe must resign,’’ he said.
Tsvangirai, who returned from South Africa, where he is being treated for cancer, said there should be a transitional period possibly involving a government of national unity after Mugabe left office. He also said he had not been approached to be part of any transitional mechanism, but ‘‘if we are approached to negotiate such a process, we will participate’’.
Sources close to the military said they believed Mugabe had resolved to step aside after he learned of plans to unseat him in parliament.
The same sources said Mugabe was shocked to discover how many people wanted him to leave, and was waiting on a promise of safe passage for his wife and other members of his family before accepting the fait accomplis.
Singapore, where Mugabe often goes for medical treatment, is one possible exile destination.
It is understood that Paul Mangwana, the Zimbabwean military’s chief lawyer, and Douglas Mwonzora, the chief legal counsel for the MDC, were due to meet to discuss details of the plan.
It is believed that the vote in parliament will be timed before Phelekezela Mphoko, the vicepresident, can return from an official visit to Japan and step in as acting president.
Jacob Mudenda, the speaker of the House, could appoint a new vice-president when Mugabe leaves office.
Mudenda is a supporter of Emmerson Mnangagwa, the recently sacked vice-president, who is believed to be the military’s preferred candidate. It was Mnangagwa’s dismissal, after 40 years of service to Mugabe, which sparked the military action.
Mugabe is still seen by many Africans as a liberation hero. But he is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power has ruined one of Africa’s most promising states.
– Telegraph Group, Reuters