Mugabe refuses to resign as president of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe has baffled the country by ending his address on national television last night without announcing his resignation.
The ruling party’s Central Committee had hours earlier told him to resign as president by noon today or face impeachment proceedings the following day.
Zimbabweans gathered in expectation of a celebration.
Instead, Mugabe appeared to hint at challenging the ruling party, which has expelled him as its leader, by trying to stay on.
He made a reference to presiding over a party congress next month.
“The congress is due in a few weeks from now. I will preside over its processes, which must not be possessed by any acts calculated to undermine it or compromise the outcomes in the eyes of the public,” he said.
Officials close to the talks between Mugabe and the military had said the president would resign.
Mugabe noted the political turmoil that led to his military house arrest and expulsion as ruling party leader.
“From tonight... the nation at all levels gets refocused,” he said.
He said that “failures of the past” may have triggered anger in some quarters, which he calls “quite understandable”.
He also notes that “intergenerational conflict must be resolved”, a reference to his apparent positioning of his unpopular 52-year-old wife to succeed him.
Mugabe is 93 and had been backed by fellow veterans of the country’s liberation war, until they turned against him.
Here’s a timeline of recent events in Zimbabwe:
November 6: After a campaign of public insults against Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mugabe fires his long-time deputy, later accusing him of plotting to take power via witchcraft. Mr Mnangagwa flees the country.
November 13: Army commander Constantino Chiwenga issues a rare public rebuke, saying the military will not hesitate to “step in” to calm political tensions and criticising the handling of the once-prosperous southern African nation’s crumbling economy.
November 14: Armored personnel carriers are seen on the outskirts of the capital, Harare. The military moves in overnight, taking control of the state-run broadcaster.
November 15: The military announces that Mugabe is under house arrest and an operation has begun to arrest “criminals” around him who harmed the economy. Unpopular first lady Grace Mugabe, who many feared would replace Mr Mnangagwa and even succeed her husband, disappears from view.
November 16: State-run media publish extraordinary photos of a smiling Mugabe shaking hands with the army commander at the State House amid negotiations on the president’s exit as the military tries to avoid accusations of a coup.
November 17: The army, which continues to refer to Mugabe as president, allows him to make his first public appearance since house arrest. He appears at a graduation ceremony to polite applause.
November 18: The bulk of the capital’s roughly 1.6 million people pour into the streets in an antiMugabe demonstration that even days ago would have brought a police crackdown.
November 19: The ruling party Central Committee expels Mugabe as party leader and tells him to step aside as president by noon Monday or face impeachment. In a speech on national television, he does not announce his resignation as expected.