Mugabe addresses the nation on live TV – but still doesn’t resign
Robert Mugabe has defied expectations that he was about to resign on live TV.
The embattled president of Zimbabwe has already seen his power effectively removed after the military seized control.
He has been sacked as leader of his party, however still remains in his role as president.
Military chiefs are thought to want him to step aside voluntarily to make the changeover seem peaceful.
In his address, Mugabe praised his countrymen, saying people were determined to resolve differences peacefully.
He said events this week were not a threat to the constitution or his authority as head of state and commander in chief.
It comes hours after the ruling party’s Central Committee fired him as party leader and said if he did not resign as president by noon on Monday it would start impeachment proceedings.
The Central Committee of Zanu-PF fired Mugabe as party chief, expelled his wife and named the recently dismissed Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa as its new head.
The decisions follow a dramatic few days in which the military put Mugabe under house arrest, angered by his firing of Mr Mnangagwa and positioning of the unpopular first lady to replace him – and probably succeed her husband as leader.
The party accuses Grace Mugabe of ‘preaching hate, divisiveness and assuming roles and powers not delegated to the office’.
The 93-year-old Mugabe was meeting on Sunday with the army commander who put him under house arrest days ago in a second round of talks on his departure after nearly four decades in power.
Zimbabwean officials have not revealed details of the talks but the military appears to favour a voluntary resignation by Mugabe to maintain a veneer of legality in the political transition.
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