Zimbabwe to swear in new leader Friday to replace Mugabe
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Emmerson Mnangagwa, the military-backed politician whose allies ended Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule over Zimbabwe, will be sworn in as the new president on Friday, the speaker of the country’s Parliament announced Wednesday.
A day after Mugabe resigned under mounting pressure, the governing party, ZANU-PF, quickly nominated Mnangagwa, 75, to complete Mugabe’s term as president until the next election, which must be held by August.
Mnangagwa returned to Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, from South Africa on Wednesday — the first time he has been seen in public since Mugabe fired him as vice president on Nov. 6. That dismissal triggered a chain of events that led to the country’s first transfer of power since independence in 1980. Mnangagwa’s ascension to the presidency will cap a military-led campaign that his allies have tried to coat with a veneer of legality.
To cheering supporters at the ZANU-PF headquarters, Mnangagwa said that leaders of the governing party had “constitutionally processed the resolutions which persuaded this moment to come by.”
He said that the military intervention had reflected the people’s will and led to the start of a “new democracy.”
He also urged Zimbabweans to “come together” and pledged that Zimbabwe, a diplomatic pariah in the West under Mugabe, would reach out to “friends outside the continent.”
Mnangagwa, who was backed by the military, including the top military commander, Gen. Constantino Chiwenga, said he had been “in constant contact with the service chiefs throughout” the recent events.
Mugabe, who was himself last seen in public on Sunday, tendered his resignation in a letter to Parliament on Monday, just after lawmakers had begun impeachment proceedings.
The military, which has held him under house arrest, released no details Wednesday about Mugabe or his family.
Mnangagwa’s allies have taken great pains to paint his elevation as following the rule of law. Under their direction, ZANU-PF expelled Mugabe and named Mnangagwa as its new leader. Then it moved to impeach Mugabe.
The constitution allows the governing party to nominate an individual to the presidency if the office is vacant.