Coup underway in Zimbabwe?

a reply to: deltaalphanovember

I guess knowing the army is on their side gives them the freedom to openly express their view , no fear of retribution.



It's been a long time coming , party on.

News just breaking that following a meeting of the Zanu-PF party Robert Mugabe has been sacked as their leader , he still remains president of Zimbabwe but without the backing of his party that is a title in name only.

The man Mugabe fired which started his downfall , ex-vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa , has been appointed as Mugabe's successor.
www.bbc.co.uk...

a reply to: gortex

Watch this link - apparently Mugabe is about to announce his resignation! It's a live broadcast and they are still setting everything up.

a reply to: deltaalphanovember

So he didn't resign then , classic Mugabe.
Got to admire his resolve.

The old tyrant didn't resign in his speech. Said he is going to "preside" over the Party congress. The same Party that kicked this monster from the Chairmanship.

The Army will likely force him to leave tomorrow if he refuses to resign. No one will be sad to see him go.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: deltaalphanovember

So he didn't resign then , classic Mugabe.
Got to admire his resolve.

The old man has a pair, that's for sure. Bloody hell ... he is like a fossilized barnacle.

Mugabe thinks he is some kind of Mandela, and still has the hearts and minds of the Zimbabwean people because of his years as a revolutionary/freedom fighter/terrorist (delete according to taste) before becoming leader. He's become so isolated from common sentiment that he thinks the people will rise up to support him and that he can over-rule the coup by force of personality. In this, he is very wrong indeed.

He didn't take the sweetener being offered to him (immunity from prosecution) and has crossed his personal Rubicon instead. He has embarked on an epic of denial not seen since the grim days of that Iraqi spokesman guy who insisted that the US was dropping fake bombs and Saddam Hussein would emerge victorious. (Whatever happened to that guy in the end, btw?)

Robert Mugabe has resigned , there's celebration on the streets of Zimbabwe , it's over.

a reply to: gortex

At last! Wow that was the weirdest coup in Africa. Have to hand it to the Zimbabwean general populace - they kept their cool.

Now the real fun and games start as every wannabe future dictator for life lines up...

Robert Mugabe resigns:
Zimbabwe parliament speaker Robert Mugabe resigned as president of Zimbabwe on Tuesday, parliament speaker Jacob Mudenda announced, bringing the curtain down on a 37-year reign.
Mugabe was swept from power as his autocratic rule crumbled within days of a military takeover. "I Robert Gabriel Mugabe in terms of section 96 of the constitution of Zimbabwe hereby formally tender my resignation... with immediate effect," said speaker Mudenda, reading the letter.
The bombshell news was delivered to a special joint session of parliament.Lawmakers had convened to debate a motion to impeach Mugabe, who has dominated every aspect of Zimbabwean public life since independence in 1980.

It was greeted on the streets of the capital Harare with car horns and wild cheering.Text

link

a reply to: deltaalphanovember

Wow that was the weirdest coup in Africa.

Agreed , it's like a template for how it should be done probably because everybody apart from Mugabe had had enough.

Now the real work begins , I hope what is to come echo's what we've seen so far and Zimbabwe can heal itself.

So fill me in: Did Mugabe actually get on camera and announce his resignation, or did they just release a statement which says Mugabe has resigned?

originally posted by: AndyFromMichigan
So fill me in: Did Mugabe actually get on camera and announce his resignation, or did they just release a statement which says Mugabe has resigned?

He sent a letter to parliament in which he resigned

Either he resigns or gets impeached. He's a very stubborn man. He must've finally realised there was no way for him to remain in power.

All state institutions and the people turned against him. Nobody came to his aid, except for the Youth Leader who quickly switched sides.

originally posted by: AndyFromMichigan
So fill me in: Did Mugabe actually get on camera and announce his resignation, or did they just release a statement which says Mugabe has resigned?

He resigned and will now be taken away to join the other fossils. Unless, of course, my personal theory that he died years ago and his body stuffed with servomotors to create ROBOMUGABE is correct, in which case he's in a cupboard somewhere with a sheet over his head.

So, they just read a letter? The conspiracy theorist in me is wondering if that letter was typed up by some army staff member, in order to avoid the impeachment proceedings.

a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

The thought occurred to me as well ... it is somewhat out of character for him. He boldly faced the cameras on Sunday night, and declared he was going nowhere.
I think, though, in the end, the impeachment would have been more humiliating than just a simple resignation - he is a very proud dictator - in his mind a resignation is the lesser of the two evils and probably is the result of a backroom deal where he and his wife gets to keep his billions - and she stays out of jail.

originally posted by: face23785

originally posted by: EvilAxis

originally posted by: face23785

Yeah, I mean say what you want about the Iraq War but it scared Gaddafi straight. He gave up his WMD. Then Obama-Clinton roll in, get Gaddafi killed, and make sure no one will ever voluntarily give up WMD again.

#thanksobama

Likewise after Saddam Hussein gave up developing WMD Bush junior decided to eliminate him.

Except Saddam kept his stockpiles. Hundreds of our soldiers got hurt identifying and destroying them. Gaddafi completely gave his up and allowed UN inspectors in to prove it. Saddam kept his and kept giving the UN the runaround. Totally different situation.

Saddam was no longer developing or making these weapons and many had already been destroyed. Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix concluded that Iraq had no significant WMD by 1996:

In 1996 inspectors destroyed Iraq’s principal biological weapons production facility at al-Hakam, which had been sanitized and converted to civilian use in 1991. The goals of Resolution 687 had now essentially been achieved – Iraq was disarmed and had no meaningful WMD production facilities. 

What did happen to Saddam's WMD

It is of course regrettable that after their invasion of Iraq American soldiers were injured by some of the remaining weapons, many of which were designed in America and made in Spain and Italy, as part of the West's collaboration with arming Iraq.