Zimbabwe counts down to Mugabe impeachment

T TV Tuesday 21/November/2017 13:12 PM
By: Times News Service

The clock is ticking in the run up to an impeachment vote that could finally oust Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe. Graham Mackay reports.
Robert Mugabe may be refusing to step down as Zimbabwe's leader, but shortly he may not have a choice.
ZANU-PF SECRETARY OF INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY, SIMON KHAYA MOYO, SAYING: "The party has instructed the chief whip to proceed with impeachment processes"
In a special meeting, leaders from the ruling ZANU-PF party have confirmed they plan to impeach Mugabe on Tuesday after a deadline for his resignation passed.
ZANU-PF has the largest number of seats in Zimbabwe's parliament by far, so the two-thirds majority needed to oust the president shouldn't be a problem.
But it would be all the more emphatic with the support of their arch rivals, the Movement for Democratic Change.
The two parties rarely agree on anything, although getting rid of Mugabe would likely be be exception.
OBERT GUTU, MDC SPOKESPERSON SAYING: "The general sentiment out there is we should support the impeachment motion. Not because we are taking any sides with the various factions within ZANU-PF, not at all. we have always been insisting that Mugabe must go."
On paper, impeachment is a long and drawn-out process, but constitutional experts say with the right support, it could be fast tracked, and Mugabe could potentially be gone in a day.
Meanwhile, as political factions gather hatch their plans, the president is getting ready for a meeting of his own, and it could be an awkward one.
According to the army, he's set for a tête-à-tête with Emmerson Mnangagwa, the vice president he unceremoniously fired two weeks ago.
But the balance of power has shifted significantly then. Mugabe has lost practically all his key allies, and has been sacked as ZANU-PF leader. That title now belongs to Mnangagwa.