Mugabe defiant in talks with army

Mnangagwa, 75, was previously one of Mugabe’s most loyal lieutenants, having worked alongside him for decades.

But he fled to South Africa following his dismissal and published a scathing five-page rebuke of Mugabe’s leadership and Grace’s presidential ambitions.

The military generals were strongly opposed to Grace Mugabe’s rise, while Mnangagwa has maintained close ties to the army and could emerge as the next president.

“People want the constitution to be upheld. The talks should look at how to deal with the Mugabe issue in a progressive manner,” political analyst Earnest Mudzengi told AFP.

Eldred Masunungure, a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, added that the formation of a “pre-election coalition” could be a viable response to the crisis.

Many Zimbabweans hoped the situation would pave the way to a more prosperous future.

“We needed change. Our situation has been pathetic,” said Keresenzia Moyo, 65.

“The economy has been in the doldrums for a very long time. We are happy with what has been done.”

However, a spokesman for the ruling ZANU-PF party, Simon Khaya Moyo, insisted it was business as usual.

“It’s normal, everything is normal with the party,” he told AFP.

Harare’s residents largely ignored the few soldiers still on the streets Thursday and continued commuting, socialising and working.

The international community has been watching the crisis closely.

In Paris, the head of the African Union, Guinea’s President Alpha Conde, warned on Thursday that the continent “will never accept the military coup d’etat” in Zimbabwe and called for a return to the “constitutional order.”

“(Problems) need to be resolved politically by the ZANU-PF party and not with an intervention by the army,” added Conde.

A meeting of SADC in Botswana on Thursday called for an emergency regional summit to help resolve the crisis.

The bloc urged Zimbabwe to “settle the political challenges through peaceful means”.

Britain, Zimbabwe’s former colonial ruler, demanded that elections scheduled for 2018 go ahead.

– ZANU-PF ‘soiled’ –

The Herald daily walked a fine line in its editorial pages Thursday by remaining loyal to Mugabe but also endorsing the military’s action.

“The military does not readily interfere… they had to break with this long tradition,” it wrote, adding that ZANU-PF “was being soiled by those who should be helping the President”.