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Ruling party MPs threaten to defect

    JOHANNESBURG

    A number of new ruling ZANU-PF party MPs and provincial governors have said this week they would pressure President Robert Mugabe to relinquish the party’s leadership in coming months, the ‘Financial Gazette’ reported on Thursday.

    The independent weekly newspaper said they were seeking a new, younger leader who would rejuvenate the party and help prepare for presidential elections in 2002. It quoted a party provincial chairman who requested anonymity as saying Mugabe’s “theatrics” on land reform during the election campaign had done the party more harm than good.

    “We are presently consulting and our common position is that he should step down by the time we hold our annual conference in December to save the party. Anything short of that means we will face massive defeat in the presidential polls,” he said.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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