DEFIANT MUGABE CLINGS TO POWER
In rambling TV speech, he refuses to quit – despite ultimatum to step down or face impeachment
RobeRT Mugabe appeared on Zimbabwe’s state television last night for the first time since being arrested – and refused to resign.
Flanked by the generals who had placed him under house arrest following last week’s coup, he made a long, rambling speech about the future of what he called ‘our’ country, dashing hopes that he was finally to step down after 37 years in power.
After he was expelled as leader of the ruling Zanu-PF party yesterday, the 93-yearold was given until midday today to resign or face impeachment.
The main opposition’s chief whip said lawmakers would ‘definitely’ put the process in motion when the country’s parliament resumes tomorrow.
Last night Mugabe was brought by his military captors to Zimbabwe’s State House, his official residence, and read out a prepared statement in which he made no mention of standing down. The bizarre appearance brought the country to a standstill as people crowded around televisions to hear what they hoped would be a historic resignation.
but the dictator, who was wearing a dark suit and a red tie, simply called for the nation to ‘move forward’. He even claimed he would lead a crunch congress meeting of Zanu-PF, despite the fact the party had ousted him earlier in the day.
He promised that ‘ we’ will rebuild the country and said the military action against him was a result of ‘ issues drawn to my attention … raised in the spirit of honesty and out of deep and patriotic concern for the stability of our nation and for the welfare of our people’.
He added that the observation he drew from the past week was ‘the unshakeable pedestal on which rests our state … indicating that as Zimbabweans we are generally peacefully disposed people who express our grievances … with a level of discipline and restraint so rare to many other nations’. Speaking of the coup that has seen him under house arrest since last Tuesday, Mugabe claimed it ‘did not amount to a threat to our cherished constitutional order, nor is it a challenge to my position as head of state and government – nor even as commander in chief of the Zimbabwe defence forces’.
He then shook hands with the security chiefs who sent tanks on to the streets last week – and was heard muttering ‘ sorry’ that the speech was quite long.
Despite losing the role of party leader, his title as Zimbabwean president remains.
Politician and war veterans’ leader Chris Mutsvangwa said plans for impeachment would move ahead today, and vowed to hold street protests in Harare on Wednesday. Most Zimbabweans were astonished by Mugabe’s TV appearance and his claims that he remained as head of state, despite facing the possibility of criminal charges if he is impeached.
‘He’s quite mad,’ said one military official. ‘He’s stubborn and delusional. He’s also finished.
‘How can he talk about the future when he is no longer our leader?’ Tembisa Chiera, a project manager watching last night’s address, said: ‘He thinks he’s still in power. He’s a stubborn old fool. He’s also clearly out of his mind.’
The start of impeachment proceedings follows the decision by Zanu-PF to expel Mugabe as First Secretary yesterday, along with Grace, his second wife.
She is under military detention and has not been allowed to see him since last Thursday.
While under house arrest the despot was allowed to watch television footage of tens of thousands marching through the streets on Saturday demanding that he resign – along with the news that his ruling party was preparing to throw him out.
The coup plotters’ hope was that he would realise his time was up if he was left isolated and alone at the £10million palace – which he
‘Stubborn and delusional’ ‘He is finished’
had built on Grace’s instructions because she refused to stay in State House where he had lived with Sally, his first wife.
It emerged that Grace’s future role formed a key part of discussions between Mugabe and the military leaders behind the coup.
The ageing president had demanded that she be released and allowed to sit beside him while he made his expected resignation on air.
During the negotiations, in which a Roman Catholic priest acted as an intermediary between Mugabe and the generals, the president also demanded that a number of key allies who were arrested last week be released.
The Twitter account of the ZanuPF party, which has been issuing messages on behalf of the military, cryptically tweeted yesterday: ‘Don’t worry, be patient. We have been kind.’
Former vice-president emmerson Mnangagwa, who has huge support in the military, was named as Mugabe’s replacement as head of the party.