The Zimbabwe endgame – six scenarios

As mediation efforts continue in Zimbabwe’s State House over President Robert Mugabe’s future – the Report Focus has identified six potential outcomes:

1. Mr Mugabe resigns – clearing the way for sacked Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa to step in
2. Mr Mugabe stays on – nominally in power until the ruling Zanu-PF party’s congress in December
3. Mr Mugabe forced into exile – if no deal can be reached
4. Government of national unity and elections – a move favoured by the opposition and some in the international community
5. A new Mugabe? Should Emmerson Mnangagwa become president, life may not be that different for Zimbabweans
6. Mr Mugabe stages counter-coup – the Presidential Guard is the part of the military most loyal to the president, though its compound has been surrounded.