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Zimbabwe soap opera s president Robert Mugabe resists mandated resignation in bizarre national address – hours after his sacking by ruling party

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><header id&equals;"ra-headers">&NewLine;<h6 id&equals;"ra-headline"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;080000&semi;"><strong>Robert Mugab<&sol;strong><strong>e fails to announce resignation as President of Zimbabwe<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;080000&semi;"><strong>Vows to stay in power for several weeks&comma; despite intense pressure on him to stand down now&comma; in bizarre national address<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;080000&semi;"><strong>Mugabe announced he would preside over the ruling party&&num;8217&semi;s congress in Dec&comma; despite ruling party having sacked him as party leader<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;080000&semi;"><strong>Hours earlier Zanu-PF Central Committee gave Mugabe less than 24 hours to resign as president or be impeached<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<&sol;header>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"ra-body-wrap">&NewLine;<article id&equals;"ra-body">&NewLine;<h6><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-285710" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;11&sol;Robert-Mugabe-9&period;png" alt&equals;"Robert Mugabe 9&period;png" width&equals;"962" height&equals;"593" &sol;>Mugabe&&num;8217&semi;s anticipated resignation did not happen as anticipated Sunday&period; He gave a rambling 20-minute speech witout touching on a possible resignation&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>The anticipated resignation of Zimbabwe&&num;8217&semi;s embattled president&comma; Robert Mugabe&comma; did not happen as anticipated Sunday&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The defiant nonagenerian refused to address the issue  in a bizarre news conference in Harare Sunday&comma; leaving his future as the nation’s President unclear&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The 93-year-old leader looked frail as he rambled through a 20-minute address on state-run TV&comma; flanked by military leaders&period; The head scratching event left Zimbabwe and the world puzzled as the noticeably exacerbated Mugabe said &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;thank you and good night” without uttering a word of his widely expected resignation&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Mugabe in the address said he would preside over the ruling party&&num;8217&semi;s congress in December&comma; despite no longer leading the party&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-285684" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;11&sol;Emmerson-Mnangagwa-5&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Emmerson-Mnangagwa 5&period;jpg" width&equals;"688" height&equals;"387" &sol;><strong>Former VP&comma; Emmerson Mnangagwa&comma; is expected to take over leading  Zimbabwe<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>The Zanu-PF earlier sacked Mugabe as party leader&comma; and gave him less than 24 hours to resign as president or be impeached&period; Instead&comma; Mugabe called for unity within the frayed leadership&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I am aware that many developments have occurred in the party&comma; or have been championed and done by individuals in the name of the party&comma;” he said&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Given the failings of the past and the anger this might have triggered in some quarters&comma; such developments are quite understandable&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine;His grip on power has weakened since the military intervened on Wednesday&comma; in a row over who should succeed him&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The crisis began when the 93-year-old president sacked his deputy&comma; Emmerson Mnangagwa&comma; two weeks ago&comma; angering army commanders who saw it as an attempt to position his wife as his successor&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Mugabe rarely looked up from his prepared text&comma; which focused on Zimbabwe’s cash-strapped economy and infighting within the ruling party ZANU-PF&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;He often stumbled over his words&comma; shuffled papers and remarked &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;oh that’s a long speech” near its end&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;He acknowledged criticism against him from Zanu-PF&comma; the military and public&comma; and stressed the need to return Zimbabwe to normalcy&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;Whatever the pros and cons of how they &lpar;the army&rpar; went about their operation&comma; I&comma; as commander-in-chief&comma; do acknowledge their concerns&comma;&&num;8221&semi; he said&comma; in reference to the army&&num;8217&semi;s move last week to take over the state broadcaster&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Commenting on Mugabe&&num;8217&semi;s rearguard action opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said he was &&num;8220&semi;baffled&&num;8221&semi; by the president&&num;8217&semi;s address&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;He&&num;8217&semi;s playing a game&period; He has let the whole nation down&comma;&&num;8221&semi; he told Reuters news agency&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Mugabe&&num;8217&semi;s dogged determination not to f resign in the face of  tens of thousands of party faithfuls who had joined huge demonstrations on Saturday&comma; with many believing he was about to step down&comma; also calls to question how he can preside over Zanu-PF&&num;8217&semi;s congress next month&comma; following his dismissal as party leader&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Emmerson Mnangagwa&comma; it is anticipated&comma; would officially take over leading the country then&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The influential War Veterans Association&comma; which used to back Mr Mugabe but now demands his resignation&comma; confirmed they would call for further protests&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;That speech has nothing to do with realities&period; We will go for impeachment and we are calling people back to the streets&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said Chris Mutsvangwa&comma; the association&&num;8217&semi;s leader told AFP&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"media-landscape has-caption full-width"><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<&sol;article>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;

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