out,” said Charles Muramba, a 46-year-old bus driver.
“Arrogant Mugabe disregards ZANU-PF,” screamed the front page of the Daily News on Monday.The crisis erupted on November 13 after a factional squabble over the presidential succession erupted into the open.
Mugabe’s wife Grace, 52, secured prime position to succeed him when 75-year-old vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is close to the military leadership, was fired.After he fled abroad, the army took over the country and placed Mugabe under house arrest.
The army has insisted its action is not a coup but is a police action to arrest allegedly corrupt supporters of the highly ambitious first lady.When Mugabe refused to step down following behind-the-scenes talks, the generals unleashed people power.
In scenes reminiscent of Zimbabwe‘s independence in 1980, crowds packed the cities, waving flags and chanting for Mugabe to resign.On Sunday ZANU-PF dismissed him as its leader and demanded he resign as head of state, naming Mnangagwa as the new party chief.
But impeaching Mugabe, who is the only leader most Zimbabweans have ever known, would require a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of Zimbabwe‘s parliament which is due to resume on Tuesday.
Mugabe seemed unfazed in his speech and made no reference to the hostile chorus calling for him to go, describing last week’s dramatic military intervention as “no threat” to his rule.Chris Vandome, an analyst at the Chatham House think-tank, said impeachment appeared increasingly likely.
“They will start impeaching him (Tuesday), that is certainly the will of the military, but it’s increasingly now the will of the people,” he told AFP.“The longer this goes on for, the more the likelihood of violence increases.”
Some sources suggest Mugabe has been battling to delay his exit in order to secure a deal that would guarantee future protection for him and his family.Mugabe was a key figure in the war for independence and took office as prime minister in 1980, riding a wave of goodwill.But his reputation was swiftly tarnished by his authoritarian instincts, rights abuses and economic ineptitude.