Mugabe defies party, doesn’t resign as president of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Sunday refused to step down from his post despite calls from his own party to resign, the BBC reported.

Members of the political party ZANU-PF on Sunday expelled Mugabe and appointed Emmerson Mnangagwa their new leader. The party issued an ultimatum that Mugabe would be impeached as president if he did not step down by midday Monday.

During a televised address, Mugabe did not resign, but rather suggested he would preside over the party’s congress next month, according to the BBC.

The party responded by saying it gave Mugabe “every chance to have a dignified exit.”

We gave Robert Gabriel Mugabe every chance to have a dignified exit. But he is mad.

— ZANU PF (@zanu_pf) November 19, 2017

Mugabe has led Zimbabwe for 37 years, but his time as president appears to be coming to an end. 

{mosads}

A military coup placed Mugabe, 93, under house arrest last week after he fired Mnangagwa as vice president and indicated he would transfer power to his wife, Grace Mugabe.

“Whatever the pros and cons of how [the army] went about their operation, I, as commander in chief, do acknowledge their concerns,” Mugabe said Sunday, according to the BBC.

Hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets of Harare, Zimbabwe, on Saturday to celebrate Mugabe’s apparent ouster.