Zimbabwe’s long-time president Robert Mugabe has
agreed to the terms of his resignation and a letter has been drafted, an
official source with direct knowledge of negotiations told CNN.
The source said that
the generals had given into many of Mugabe’s demands including full immunity
for himself and his wife Grace, and that he would keep his private properties.
According to the
source, the aim of Sunday’s televised address in which Mugabe appeared to
resist calls to step aside was to ensure the veteran leader openly declared the
military’s actions to be constitutional.
For the resignation to
formally take place, however, a letter must first be sent to the speaker of
Parliament, added the source.
Mugabe had stunned the
nation on Sunday when he refused to say in a live televised address if he was
stepping down.
His party had given
him 24 hours to resign or be impeached after military seized power and kept him
under house arrest.
On Saturday, thousands
of Zimbabweans had taken to the streets calling for him to go.
But in a bizarre and
rambling speech, Mugabe instead insisted he was going nowhere, and that he
would see his political party Zanu-PF through its congress in a few weeks.
Zimbabweans who’d been
glued to state television to watch the speech live came out into the streets
afterward, some in shock.
Harare resident Tina
Madzimure called the speech “an embarrassment really. He made a fool out of the
generals.”
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