Conversation … Vice Presidential nominee John Nkomo (left) and President Mugabe listen as
Emerson Mnangagwa explains a point
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe will lead Zanu PF for a further five years after he was endorsed at a congress which closed on Saturday.
Mugabe immediately vowed to resist demands by his opponents to reform the country’s security forces.
While Mugabe has managed to remain at the helm of Zanu PF, a raging battle is underway over who will eventually succeed him, threatening the future of a party that had enjoyed uninterrupted rule from independence in 1980 till last year.
At 85, Mugabe is in the twilight of a political career spanning more than half a century and has led Zanu PF since the mid 1970s when the party fought a guerrilla war against white minority rule.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was endorsed Sunday to lead his Zanu PF party for another five years and vowed to resist demands by his opponents to reform the country’s security forces.
But the veteran leader was forced to share power with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party after losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in March last year.
The coalition has been rocked by differences over how to share power and the MDC is pressing for reform of the security forces it accuses of being used by Zanu PF to stifle dissent.
“May I state this clearly and categorically, as Zanu PF the defense of our sovereignty rests with us and with no other. Any maneuvers to tamper with the forces will never be entertained by us,” Mugabe said while closing a Zanu PF congress.
Many senior officers in the security forces fought in Zimbabwe’s war of independence and remain loyal to Mugabe. They have vowed never to recognize Tsvangirai as leader.
Zanu PF and the MDC are involved in a round of talks to clear outstanding issues of a political deal signed last year.
The MDC wants the central bank governor and attorney general replaced, and party treasurer Roy Bennett and some senior officials sworn-in as deputy agriculture minister and provincial governors, respectively.
Zanu PF passed a resolution Saturday rejecting the demands and said, instead, the MDC should call for the removal of Western sanctions and persuade radio stations broadcasting from abroad to stop.
Zanu PF retained Joyce Mujuru, 54, as Mugabe’s deputy while party chairman John Nkomo, 75, filled in the vacant second vice president position. He will be sworn in as Zimbabwe’s deputy president Monday.
Mugabe Friday condemned internal fighting over leadership posts in the party, saying this was “eating up” Zanu PF but on Saturday the veteran leader said the party had emerged from the congress much stronger.
“We go back much stronger, a better focused party raring to go, to take on the enemy who has sought our ruin through sanctions,” Mugabe said.
He accused Western countries of plotting to reverse seizures of white commercial farms to resettle blacks but said they would not succeed. – Reuters
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