Staff ReporterRobert Mugabe must resign as president by midday on Monday or impeachment proceedings will start, Zimbabwe’s ruling party has said.
The central committee of Zanu-PF has already fired Mugabe as party leader but he technically remains president until he either resigns or is removed from office.
The party also expelled his wife and named the recently dismissed Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa as its new head.
Most Zimbabweans believe Mr Mnangagwa was dismissed to clear the way for Mr Mugabe’s “despised” wife to become his successor.
Mugabe had reportedly gone on hunger strike to protest his conditions under house arrest while Zimbabwean officials plotted his removal from office.
The dictator is said to have insisted he remain the “legitimate” head of state, and that if he were to step down in the future his family must have immunity from persecution.
It remains unclear whether army chief General Constantino Chiwenga, who was photographed with the President at his home on Thursday, has agreed to these conditions.
The Zimbabwean parliament resumes on Tuesday and impeachment proceedings would be expected to begin then
