Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has until noon on Monday to stand down or the ruling ZANU-PF will begin impeachment proceedings.
This comes after the 93-year-old leader defied expectations he would resign in a late night Sunday television address, pledging instead to preside over a congress next month of ZANU-PF, which had sacked him as its leader only hours earlier.
Moments after Mugabe’s address, war veterans leader Chris Mutsvangwa said they would lead public protests in the streets of Harare, cranking up the pressure on Zimbabwe’s ruler of the last 37 years.
His lack to mention resignation rose speculation that he read the wrong speech in his live television address, or skipped over passages about standing down.
Mugabe was sacked by his party, but appears to be clinging to power.
On Sunday the party’s Central Committee chose his former deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa to be Mugabe’s replacement.
The move by the ruling party is one step closer to seeing President Robert Mugabe removed as president.
It was Mugabe’s sacking of Mnangagwa as his vice-president – paving the way for his wife Grace to succeed him – that triggered the army to seize control on Wednesday.
