HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has until noon (5.00 a.m. EST) on Monday to stand down or the ruling ZANU-PF will begin impeachment proceedings after the 93-year-old leader defied expectations he would resign.
Mugabe stunned Zimbabweans in a rambling late night Sunday television address by avoiding any mention of resignation, pledging instead to preside over a congress next month of ZANU-PF, which had sacked him as its leader only hours earlier.
Parliament does not sit on Mondays so any impeachment would have to wait until Tuesday, although a vote may not necessarily take place the same day.
Zimbabwe’s liberation war veterans, who have been among the most vocal in calling for Mugabe’s resignation, will hold a media briefing at 9.30 a.m.
Zimbabwe’s Mugabe has drafted resignation letter, CNN says
The huge crowds in Harare have given a quasi-democratic veneer to the army’s intervention, backing its assertion that it was merely effecting a constitutional transfer of power, rather than a plain coup, which would risk a diplomatic backlash.
But some of Mugabe’s opponents are uneasy about the prominent role played by the military, and fear Zimbabwe might be swapping one army-backed autocrat for another, rather than allowing the people to choose their next leader.
Armored vehicles manned by soldiers were still stationed on some street corners in the capital on Monday.
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