‘I’ll preside over party congress’

Mugabe looks to the future as leader

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe clung to the vestiges of office last night, using a TV address to maintain he was still in power despite a military takeover and a mounting clamour for his autocratic 37year rule to end.

“The [ruling Zanu-PF] party congress is due in a few weeks and I will preside over its processes.”

Speaking slowly and occasionally stumbling as he read from the pages, Mugabe talked of the need for solidarity to resolve national problems – business-as-usual rhetoric that he has deployed over decades.

He made no reference to the chorus for him to resign and shrugged off last week’s dramatic military intervention.

“The operation I have alluded to did not amount to a threat to our well-cherished constitutional order nor did it challenge my authority as head of state, not even as commander in chief,” he said.

Instead he urged harmony and comradeship.

“Whatever the pros and cons of how they [the army] went about their operation, I... do acknowledge their concerns..

“We must learn to forgive and resolve contradictions, real or perceived, in a comradely Zimbabwean spirit.” His address provoked immediate anger, and raised concerns that Zimbabwe could be at risk of a violent reaction to the political turmoil.

Sources suggest Mugabe has been battling to delay his exit and to secure a deal guaranteeing future protection for him and his family.

The president, who is feted in parts of Africa as the continent’s last surviving independence leader, is in fragile health.

But he previously said he would stand in elections next year that would see him remain in power until he was nearly 100 years old.