I won’t quit, says defiant Mugabe
DEFIANT despot Robert Mugabe was last night refusing to stand down as president of Zimbabwe. The 93-year-old was seen for the first time since the army seized power and placed him under house arrest, shaking hands with General Constantino Chiwenga – credited with triggering the coup which has left the country’s future hanging in the balance.
Mugabe was escorted to showdown talks with South African politicians and generals at his official residence. A state-run newspaper published pictures of him relaxed and smiling as he met with the envoys. Mugabe is facing overwhelming pressure to stand down, but sources said he was stubbornly clinging to power and had demanded he should stay in office until next year’s elections.
He has told supporters he remains Zimbabwe’s only legitimate leader. But journalists in the country said they believed a deal would be agreed if Mugabe and his wife Grace, 52, were guaranteed safe passage out of the country once his brutal 37-year rule was finally over.
The military intervention came after the power struggle between Mrs Mugabe and the former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa over who should succeed him split
‘Matter of days until he goes’
the ruling Zanu-PF party. Mugabe, favouring his wife, sacked Mnangagwa, who did not appear to be at yesterday’s meeting, last week.
The ailing president has told confidants he wants promises of security for his family and assurances he will not face prosecution once he is no longer leader.
He has also laid down demands to keep his wealth, amassed over almost four decades as ruler over Zimbabwe’s once-rich resources.
Mrs Mugabe was not present at the talks but was believed to be in Harare, where soldiers in armoured personnel carriers remained in place at strategic locations around the capital.
Her lavish spending has made her deeply unpopular in the impoverished country, and there was a growing divide between officials in ZanuPF and her faction of supporters, known as Generation 40.
Mugabe had been held under house arrest at his lavish private residence in the northern suburb of Borrowdale since Tuesday.
South Africa, the biggest regional power, sent a delegation to the negotiations between Mugabe and the army. Chiwenga, who appeared on television on Monday, warning the army was ready to ‘step in’, was also present.
Chiwenga was pictured shaking hands with Mugabe, along with his long-term friend, the Catholic priest Fidelis Mukonori who has been acting as a middle-man in the talks.
The army want former guerrilla fighter Mnangagwa, nicknamed The Crocodile, reinstated to government. He has widely been tipped as the next president.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was arrested several times after running for the presidency, also flew back to Zimbabwe, telling a press conference that Mugabe must resign. He said he had not been approached to be part of a transitional unity government.
Political pundits said Zanu-PF would undoubtedly remain in power and many questioned if new leadership will prompt any meaningful difference for the impoverished country.
Knox Chitiyo, associate fellow with the Africa programme at Chatham House, said he believed Mugabe would stand aside, adding: ‘It is now a matter of hours or days before he steps down.’