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The Latest: Party’s decision to impeach Mugabe ‘unanimous’

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The Latest: Zimbabwe's military to address nation shortly

The Associated Press
Newspapers are held down by rocks to stop them blowing away at a news stand in Harare, Zimbabwe Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. Longtime President Robert Mugabe ignored a midday deadline set by the ruling party to step down or face impeachment proceedings, while Zimbabweans stunned by his lack of resignation during a national address vowed more protests to make him leave. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

    The Latest on Zimbabwe's political turmoil (all times local):

    8 p.m.

    Zimbabwe's military shortly will address the nation on state-run television.

    The military's role has been questioned after its leaders sat by while longtime President Robert Mugabe defied calls to resign during a speech Sunday night. The military has had Mugabe under house arrest for several days.

    Mugabe has called a Cabinet meeting Tuesday morning, while the ruling party will begin the process of impeaching him when Parliament resumes the same day.

    ———

    6:50 p.m.

    A Zimbabwe ruling party official says the party's decision to pursue the impeachment of President Robert Mugabe was "unanimous."

    The party has agreed to begin the process when Parliament resumes Tuesday, even as the increasingly isolated Mugabe calls a Cabinet meeting for Tuesday morning.

    Mugabe ignored the ruling party's midday Monday deadline to resign or face impeachment.

    The party official, Paul Mangwana, says the impeachment process should take two days and that the ruling party has the support of the opposition MDC party to help make it happen.

    ———

    6:30 p.m.

    Zimbabwe's longtime President Robert Mugabe has called a Cabinet meeting for Tuesday morning even as the ruling party moves to impeach him when Parliament resumes on the same day.

    The notice from Mugabe's chief secretary says the meeting will be at State House at 9 a.m. and all ministers "should attend."

    Mugabe ignored the ruling party's midday Monday deadline to resign or face impeachment. The ruling party accuses Mugabe of "allowing his wife to usurp government powers" and says the 93-year-old leader "is too old and cannot even walk without help."

    Mugabe remains under house arrest after the military moved in last week, but the military is taking pains to avoid accusations of a coup.

    ———

    6:15 p.m.

    Zimbabwe's ruling party says it has instructed its chief whip to move ahead with impeachment proceedings against President Robert Mugabe.

    The party also has formally notified Mugabe of his firing as party leader.

    ZANU-PF party spokesman Simon Khaya Moyo says in a statement that Mugabe was notified Monday morning of the decisions taken by the party's Central Committee a day earlier.

    Mugabe has ignored a midday Monday deadline to resign, and the party says it will pursue impeachment when Parliament resumes Tuesday. A party official says Mugabe could be voted out on Wednesday.

    ———

    5:30 p.m.

    A Zimbabwean Cabinet minister close to first lady Grace Mugabe who went silent after the military moved in last week has reappeared on Twitter, saying he is "relatively fine outside the country."

    Minister of higher education Jonathan Moyo had been said to be detained along with a number of other ministers as the military pursued people it called "criminals" accused of hurting the country's economy.

    Moyo, the most outspoken of the unpopular first lady's allies, says he is outside Zimbabwe with "at least 50 others" who include lawmakers and ruling party officials.

    Opposition to Grace Mugabe's positioning to succeed her husband led the military to move in last week and put the president under house arrest.

    ———

    4:40 p.m.

    A Zimbabwe ruling party official says it should take Parliament two days to impeach longtime President Robert Mugabe, who is resisting calls to step down.

    The party's deputy secretary for legal affairs Paul Mangwana is speaking to reporters as ruling party lawmakers gather.

    He says they will move a motion for impeachment on Tuesday and set up a committee and on Wednesday it will report back and "we vote him out."

    Mangwana says the main charge against the 93-year-old Mugabe is "allowing his wife to usurp government powers" and that "he is too old and cannot even walk without help."

    He says the ruling party needs the backing of the MDC opposition group to have enough votes in Parliament but "they are supporting us."

    ———

    4:25 p.m.

    Lawmakers with Zimbabwe's ruling party are gathering to meet on the fate of longtime President Robert Mugabe, who has resisted efforts to step down.

    A portrait of the world's oldest head of state looks down on the ZANU-PF lawmakers as they prepare to discuss their threat of impeaching Mugabe when Parliament resumes Tuesday.

    The party's chief whip Lovemore Matuke is refusing to answer reporters' questions until after the meeting.

    Mugabe astonished Zimbabweans with his defiance in a national address Sunday night after being fired as party leader. He ignored the party's deadline of midday Monday to resign as president or face impeachment.

    It is not clear how long impeachment would take.

    ———

    3:40 p.m.

    Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he doubts the ability of the ruling party to solve the country's challenges amid efforts to oust President Robert Mugabe.

    Tsvangirai says on his party's website Monday that the ruling ZANU-PF party has been hurt by factional battles and that it appears to have differences with the military over how to handle the confusing situation. Mugabe has defied calls to resign immediately. The ruling party is discussing impeachment.

    The opposition leader says the upheaval could undermine the opportunity for a "fresh start" after moves by the military and others against Mugabe. "It would be inimical to progress and the future of the country if all this action was about power retention at all costs," Tsvangirai says.

    He adds that elections scheduled for next year should be internationally supervised as a way to ensure political legitimacy.

    ———

    2:50 p.m.

    British Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman says Robert Mugabe has lost the support of Zimbabwe's people.

    James Slack says that "we don't yet know how developments in Zimbabwe are going to play out. What does appear clear is that Mugabe has lost the support of the people and of his party."

    Slack told reporters that Britain "would appeal for everyone to refrain from violence and hope to see a peaceful and swift resolution to the situation."

    Mugabe ignored a midday deadline by the ruling party to resign and now faces impeachment.

    — Jill Lawless in London.

    ———

    1:30 p.m.

    Zimbabwe's state-run broadcaster says ruling party members are summoned to a meeting Monday afternoon as talk of impeaching longtime President Robert Mugabe continues.

    Mugabe ignored a midday deadline by the party's Central Committee to resign. He now faces impeachment when Parliament resumes Tuesday.

    Meanwhile, government ministers are being urged to go about their work as usual as the political confusion continues.

    ———

    12:10 p.m.

    The deadline set by Zimbabwe's ruling party for longtime President Robert Mugabe to resign or face impeachment has passed.

    The 93-year-old Mugabe remained defiant in a national address Sunday night. He has been fired as ruling party leader but says he will preside at a party congress next month.

    Activists and the influential war veterans association are vowing more protests to pressure the world's oldest head of state, who is under military house arrest, to resign.

    ———

    10:30 a.m.

    Zimbabwe's influential war veterans association says the military should step back and let the people, and politics, remove longtime President Robert Mugabe from power.

    Chris Mutsvangwa says more protests are planned as Mugabe faces a midday deadline set by the ruling party to resign or face impeachment proceedings.

    Zimbabweans were astonished that Mugabe, flanked by the military, in a national address Sunday night did not announce his resignation.

    "Your time is up," Mutsvangwa says, and he suggests that the military, even though it put Mugabe under house arrest days ago, is still beholden to him and compelled to protect him because he is officially their "commander in chief."

    He also says the war veterans' association is going to court to argue that Mugabe is "derelict of his executive duty."

    ———

    8:45 a.m.

    Zimbabweans are worried about their country's fate after the increasingly isolated President Robert Mugabe did not resign in a televised speech as many had expected.

    "Arrogant Mugabe disregards Zanu PF," a newspaper headline says, a reference to the ruling party that has demanded he resign by noon Monday or face impeachment.

    Opposition activists plan more protests to pressure Mugabe.

    Some ruling party members say an impeachment process likely wouldn't lead to Mugabe's immediate resignation and could take days to complete. Mugabe has been stripped of his party leadership but said in Sunday night's speech he would preside over a party congress next month.

    Some people in the capital, Harare, are now more cautious about talking to reporters. That contrasts with the jubilation and open condemnation of Mugabe over the weekend.

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    Source – abcnews.go.com

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