Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, in a much-expected TV address
Sunday, stressed he was still in power after his authoritarian 37-year
reign was rocked by a military takeover.
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| Zimbabwe's
Commander Airforce and Air Marshal Perence Shiri meets with Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe (R) on November 19, 2017, in Harare (ZIMPAPERS IMAGES/AFP) Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, in a much-expected TV address Sunday, stressed he was still in power after his authoritarian 37-year reign was rocked by a military takeover.
"The (ruling ZANU-PF) party congress is
due in a few weeks and I will preside over its processes," Mugabe said,
pitching the country into further uncertainty.
Many Zimbabweans expected Mugabe to resign after the army seized power last week.
But Mugabe delivered his speech alongside the uniformed generals who were behind the military intervention.
In his address, Mugabe made no reference to the clamour for him to resign.
Instead he paid tribute to three pillars
of power in Zimbabwe -- the military, the ruling party and the war
veterans movement -- and urged national solidarity.
"Whatever the pros and cons of how they
(the army) went about their operation, I, as commander-in-chief, do
acknowledge their concerns," said Mugabe.
"We must learn to forgive and resolve contradictions real or perceived in a comradely Zimbabwean spirit," he said.
His address provoked immediate anger.
"That speech has nothing to do with
realities. We will go for impeachment and we are calling people back to
the streets," Chris Mutsvangwa, head of the influential war veterans'
association, told AFP.
On Saturday, in scenes of public elation
not seen since Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, huge crowds marched and
sang their way through Harare and other cities, believing Mugabe was
about to step down.
The ruling ZANU-PF party sacked Mugabe
as its leader earlier on Sunday and told him to resign as head of state,
naming ousted vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa as the new party chief.
Analysts say the military stepped in
last week after Mugabe's wife Grace, 52, secured prime position to
succeed him as president following a bitter power struggle with
Mnangagwa, who has close ties to the army.
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