ZANU PF members and war veterans will not allow the party’s leadership to be turned into a family dynasty, according to the party’s national spokesperson, Christopher Mutsvangwa.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, 27 May, at the party headquarters in Harare, Mutsvangwa said former President Robert Mugabe was removed from office because he tried to pass power to his wife, Grace.
He added that, unlike Mugabe, who thought he was bigger than the revolution, President Emmerson Mnangagwa respects the Constitution. Said Mutsvangwa:
When the time came that a leader was no longer serving a revolution, we removed them, and our people supported the war even when leaders were removed because they had tried to be entitled to the revolution; we dispense with such a kind of leadership.
Whenever a leader tries to become bigger than the revolution, we deal with him because that is the tradition of ZANU PF.
The reason why President Mugabe had to be removed along the way was that he had decided to create a dynasty in this country, so he was moving with his succession agenda outside the context of the Zimbabwean people.
He had turned his house and household into a courthouse of intrigue against the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which is what then led those who had put him in power originally, the war veterans, to remove him.
If you begin to subvert the will of the people yourself as head of State, there is a difference between President Emmerson Mnangagwa saying I am a constitutionalist and I follow the Constitution, from Mugabe saying my wife becomes the new queen when I am gone.
The ruling ZANU PF party is facing internal tensions over plans by some members to extend Mnangagwa’s tenure beyond the constitutionally mandated two terms.
Mnangagwa is currently serving his final term, and other party members support his deputy, Constantino Chiwenga, to take over in 2028.
Although Mnangagwa has said he respects the Constitution and intends to leave after his term ends, he has not publicly disavowed those calling for an extension.
More: NewsDay
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