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Zimbabwe’s ruling party fires Robert Mugabe as leader

The ruling party of Zimbabwe has voted to sack Robert Mugabe as its leader and has appointed in his place the vice-president the veteran autocrat fired two weeks ago. The vote by hundreds of senior Zanu-PF officials in

The ruling party of Zimbabwe has voted to sack Robert Mugabe as its leader and has appointed in his place the vice-president the veteran autocrat fired two weeks ago.

The vote by hundreds of senior Zanu-PF officials in Harare on Sunday significantly weakens the position of Mugabe, who has refused to step down following a military takeover last week, despite huge marches demanding that he leaves power.

Zimbabwe’s parliament will reconvene on Tuesday after a week-long suspension and is expecting to move to impeach the president if he has not given up power.

The committee also expelled Grace Mugabe, the divisive first lady, who had been chair of the party’s women’s league.

When the motion was passed, removing Mugabe from the head of the party and reinstating Emmerson Mnangagwa to replace him, the hall broke into cheers, song and dance.

The 200 or so members of the central committee leapt to their feet, many singing Mnangagwa’s name.

“This is the day that is defining the new birth and development of our country,” said Mike Madiro, chairman of one of the provincial party branches that had formally set Mugabe’s dethroning in motion.

Chris Mutsvangwa, head of the powerful war veterans’ association, said Mugabe was running out of time to negotiate his departure and should leave the country while he could.

“We are going all the way,” Mutsvangwa said. “He’s trying to bargain for a dignified exit.”

The Zanu-PF central committee appointed Mnangagwa, the 75-year-old vice-president who was fired by Mugabe almost two weeks ago, as its new interim leader.

Mugabe’s sacking of Mnangagwa precipitated the crisis, with Mnangagwa and the army rapidly launching a previously planned takeover.

Mnangagwa is widely expected to take power when Mugabe leaves office.

A second round of talks on Sunday morning between Mugabe and the army commanders who led the takeover was inconclusive.

According to sources close to the military, the president, who has been kept under house arrest in his sprawling residence in Harare, continues to argue that the takeover is illegal and wants to be allowed to remain in power until the end of his presidential mandate next year. Elections are due to be held before August.

A source said that Mugabe believed regional powers, who have not explicitly backed the military takeover and have called for the crisis to be solved constitutionally, would support him.

But few options are now open to the autocrat, who has ruled Zimbabwe through a mixture of coercion, bribery and revolutionary rhetoric for nearly four decades. Support in some branches of the security establishment – such as the police – has evaporated and high-profile political supporters have been detained.

The military has said it has no intention of staying in power. Army commanders worked closely with Mnangagwa before the takeover.

Mnangagwa is a former intelligence chief and veteran Zanu-PF official who was responsible for the repression of opposition parties in successive elections between 2000 and 2008.

There was applause and singing from Zanu-PF officials when the agenda for the meeting on Sunday morning was read. Item one was the “recall” – or sacking – of Mugabe as as party leader.

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The role of Obert Mpofu, the finance minister long seen as a loyal associate of Mugabe who had substantially benefited from his rule, prompted widespread comment. Mpofu said the “outgoing president” had been surrounded by “wrong people”.

His words echoed those of the military commanders who claim last week’s takeover was necessary to remove “criminals” close to the president, a reference to Grace Mugabe and her “G40” faction.

Opposition leaders in Zimbabwe have called for the formation of an inclusive transitional government but risk being sidelined by the powerful army and Zanu-PF.

There are also concerns that the military will maintain significant influence in the future.

“The ruling party have allowed the military to taste political power [and] … We have to expect some role of the armed forces to continue for some time,” said Martin Rupiya, a former Zimbabwean army general.

Since taking power, the military has arrested about a dozen senior officials and ministers loyal to the first lady. Several were also expelled from Zanu-PF at the meeting on Sunday morning.

Grace Mugabe, 52, has not been seen since the takeover. Sources told the Guardian she was in her husband’s Harare residence when he was detained on Tuesday and has not moved since.

Source: the Guardian

 

 

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18 COMMENTS
  • AHMED SALEH !!! November 19, 2017

    Zimbabwe ruling party fired its leader and appointed
    former intelligence chief who was responsible to
    repress political parties as their new leader .
    It seems power struggle within ruling party resulted
    for take over .
    Unless political parties involvement permitted in the
    process for transitional government , the outcome
    looks unpredictable .
    HGDF ruling party revolted against Issayas to replace
    by his generals . Does it make a sense ?

    • Danilo November 19, 2017

      No Ahmed, Hgdef is not legal party.if want to fire some one is him self ( wedi -berad ) by him self which is very far from the case /level of mugabes party. besides, apparently eritreans are not zimbabwans. They have constitution comparing ours law of jungle. pity enough unable to shoot to juggler while we shoot one by one. That is the difference compatriot Ahmed

      • AHMED SALEH November 20, 2017

        Sealamat Danilo
        Legal or illegal either way HGDF is the ruling party in Eritrea . But speaking
        about Zimbabwean military choice to ruling party member high rank official
        with bad record raises some suspicion . The civilian population must stay
        vigilant to resist against any sort of another tyrant .

  • amanuel November 19, 2017

    Ahmed
    It was an infighting from the outst b/n mugabes family and his vice. The people can only hope the opposition will involve. But not gloom and bloom unlike eritrea. There is opposition parties and election in zimbabwe.

    • Danilo November 19, 2017

      Dear Amanuel,
      Yes they fight but no matter their evil deed they are using legal tender which we dont have.

      • amanuel November 21, 2017

        That is true danilo
        They have a constituition that allows opposition, ellection and impeachments. If they did not have one like ertrana, he would have been killed already. Do u see the beauty of having a constitution. It provided mugabe the hated man protection from the army and the people.

  • Nahon November 19, 2017

    The Army in Zimbabwe seem to be very careful in handling the transition.
    I don’t think someone like Filippos and his comrades will ever hand over power to people, or help Eritreans handle transition to constitutional democracy peacefully.
    In all probability, they will continue killing and maiming people in the name of EPLF/Higdef.
    They have too much blood on their hands, which makes them extremely brutal, when they feel change is coming.

  • Nahon November 19, 2017

    Unfortunately, the guy who is replacing Mogabe is someone like Abraha Kasa. Ex-spy master who had helped Zabu-PF and its boss to liquidate opposition party and another front, headed by Joshua Nkomo.

  • Danilo November 19, 2017

    I think we have something to learn from the episode of situation in Zimbabwe. One thing is the action made. the other is its conduct. The army addressed professional ethical due as to be unlike the ( MUNKUS ) eritrean army

    • amanuel November 21, 2017

      U are comparing an army with gangs. We do not have army in ertra but thugs and gangs. Ofcourse agelglot is gebar like us very much hated by the gangs like us.

  • Efrem T. November 19, 2017

    The Zimbabwean army didn’t intervene because of the ills afflicting Zimbabwe, including corruption, abuse of power, election-rigging and the collapse of the currency and economy. Its commanders did it (removing or putting Mugabe under house arrest) because they were unhappy over Mugabe’s removal of the vice-president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, whom they all support.
    The army chiefs are involving themselves in an internal Zanu-PF party power struggle they should have no business with whatsoever. In short, Zimbabwe’s ‘coup’ is not about reform but about having the army’s favorite man in power.

    • amanuel November 21, 2017

      Ofcourse, but they think vp is better than the corpse ” mugabe” who needs care giver to change his diper.

  • Kalighe November 20, 2017

    In short, Zimbabwe’s ‘coup’ is not about reform but about having the army’s favorite man in power.

    Efrem T

    It’s true that they are simply charging a guard with another.
    And as such Zanu-Pf (Shabiya) will not move away from its parasitic practices. But who knows what will follow the demise of the brute ?
    I think a similar fate is awaiting Eritrea.

    • amanuel November 21, 2017

      Eritrea is dead although it looks like alive when we talk about it. If hamasien can not talk to akele, akele can’t talk to seraye, seraye can’t talk to kunama, kunama can’t talk to afar, etc. and every one runs away from it never to return back, it is dead.

      • Kalighe November 21, 2017

        “Eritrea is dead although it looks like alive when we talk about it.”

        amanuel

        Eritrea is alive and its people are strong because now they are united in purpose more than anytime before in the last two decades.
        Stop the negative messages.

  • Sengal November 20, 2017

    አንቱም ሰባት እንበርዶ ኤርትራስ ብዠካ ኤስያስ ክልተ ፍረ ነብሲ ዛንጠልጠላ ሰብኣይ’ለዋ? ታኣምርኮዩ! ሕዝቢ ኤርትራ አጽኒቱ ፣ ኪኢላ ሀይሊ ሰባ ኣብሪሱ፣ ዩንቨርስቲ አጽዩ፣ ከተማታት ኤርትራ ኣዕንዩ፣ ፀልማት ከዲኑ ፣ ብኩሉ መለከኢ ኤርትራ አደስኪሉ ከም ኩፉዕ ብዕራይ ንኩሉ ዝዋጋዕ ጋኔን እናኣንደረልካሲ ከመይዩ ዋላ ሀደ መሪር ተሳኢኑ?– እቲ ዛሀፍርሲ ንኤርትራ ጽልመት ዝከደነ ብዕራይሲ ሂዚ ናይ 10-ኪ.ሜ አስፋልቲ መገዲ ብፃሃይ ዝሰርህ መብራህተ ኤለትሪክ ዘርጊሁ ተባሂሉ ወናኒ meskerem.com “ ዐለም ጎይተኦም” ካጽምመና ብሀቂ ህግደፍ ንኤርትራ ቀቢርዋ ምህላው ዛማለክት ዛህፍር ተግባርዩ!

  • T.zeregabir November 21, 2017

    What to do, it is irritating and itching that no one but we Eritreans are commenting in the issue of Zimbabweas.
    This shows that we are all in need of the elimination of the Dictator.
    Let differentiate between the Zimbabwean military and Eritrean military.
    Eritrean military are changed to be illiterate and knowing nothing except the orders of the Dictator. All those who understand democracy and liberty are out and assigned in:
    1. City municipalities
    2. Police
    3. Ministries other than defense
    4. Prison police
    This is done to reduce pressure arising from elite fighters.
    Thus do not mention EPLF that does not exist.
    But Mugabe’s fighters were still active.
    Man-brain+no argument = military government

  • geladios November 21, 2017

    ሰላም ኣሕዋትን እሓትን ናትና ጉዳይ ዘረባ የብሉን፡ ምስ ዝኮነ ሃገር ከተወዳድሮውን ጸገም እዩ፡ ኩሉ ምልኪ እካ ብባሕርያቱ ዝመሳሰል እንተኮነ ኣብ ዓይነቱ ኪፈላለ ናይ ግደን እዩ። ከም ኣምላክ ዘምለካዮ ወልቀሰብ፡ ወይ ውድብ፡ ፓርቲ ከም ሰብ ጌርካ ከትወርዶ ጸገም አዩ ምኽንያቱ ንእሽቶ እዩ ኢልካ ዘቐመትካዮ ባአልካ ዝነድቅካዮ እዩ። ኣብ ርእሲ ደርጊ ዘመዝገቦ ዓወት ምስቲ ዝቅጸል ምሕደራ ሃገር ዋል ሓንቲ ርክብ ዘይብሉ ከንሱ፡ ካብ 1997 ንድሕሪት ብዘይ ምንም ወጋዓውነት ብዘይብሉ ይቐጸል ዝብል ስልጣን ሂብካ፡ ከም ዝደለዮ ኪዕንድር ትም ኢልካ ብምርኣይካ ከም ሕዝቢ እሱራት ናይቲ ስርዓት ኮይንካ ን13 ዓምታት ተጋዒዝካ ሕጂ ባዕልኻ ካብ ዛተኻዮ መትረብ ኪትወጽእ ዝያዳ ብልሓትን ጻዕርን ከም ዝድልየካ ምግንዛብ ይድሊ። ሓደ ኪንገብሮ ዘለና ቅድመ ኩነት እቲ ተቃዋሚ ሓይሊ፡ ደላይ ፍትሒ ዝባሃል ኣብ ሐደ ዘተኣማመን ቃል ኪዳን ክኣቱ፡ ሓደ ሓያል ጥሙር ደንበ ፈጢሩ ምስ ናይ ውሽጣዊ ሓይልታት ጽኑዕ ምትእስሳር ፈጢሩ ዘተኣማምን ድልዊ ሓይሊ ከይፍጠርካ ዝመጽእ መሰረታዊ ለውጢ ኪህሉ ኣይካኣልን አዩ ዝብል ትዕዝብቲ ኣሎኒ። እዚ ኩሉ ገዲፍና ሕጂ ኪንዳለወሉ ጉዳይ አዩ፡ ነዚ ከይከውን ኣብ ውሽጢ ደልይቲ ፊትሒ ራዕደን ሽበራን ዘይምትእምማን ንምፍጣር ዝሰርሑ ብሰም ምንእሰያትን ዘርግቲ ሰላምን ኪሳብ ዘለዉ፡ ከምኡውን ኣረጊት ኣራአእያ ዘለዎም ዘመነኦም ብሰንኪ ጉሒላ ስርዓት ብጀካ ኣነ ካልእ ዘይተዓደለ ኢሳያስን ንዝተሓሸሸ እተበልዔ ዕድሚኦም፡ጌና ዘለዉ ዝምስሎም ናይ ስልጣን ህርፋኖም ከርውዩ ዝደልዩ ሃርጋፋት ኣርግቶት ከምዚ ከማይ፡ ብዘይቀልዓለም ነቲ ሓዲሽ ወለዶ ብልቦና ከርክብዎ ድልዋት ምስ ዝኮኑ። ጉዳይና ውሕሉል ናይ መሰጋገሪ ሂዝባዊ መንግስቲ ኪንተክል ብስ ዓቢ ልቦናን ብቕዓትን ፍሉይ ትኸእሎ ኣብ ቅድሜና ከም ዘሎ ምስ ጽቡቅ ዕድል ግዳ ንቀበሎ፡ ዝሓበራ ቅጥንስ እንበሳ ይኣስራከም ዝባሃል ንሓድነታና ዘዝረጉ ሃሳባት ኩሎም ወድቓት እዮም። ሚድያ ከኣ ልዕሊ ኩሉ ነዚ ኩውን ኪትገብሩ ከቢድ ሓላፍነት ኣለኩም፡ ልቢ ይሓበና። ኽብሪ ንኣምላኽና ይኩን /ኣላህ ዎ ኣኽበር/ ኣሜን!!!

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