PF proposal could let Mnangagwa remain party leader after State House

PROPOSED changes to Zanu-PF’s constitution could allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to remain party leader after leaving State House, according to a senior party insider who disputes claims that the amendments were an attempt to remove him.

The insider, who is familiar with the party’s legal affairs process and spoke on condition of anonymity, described the proposals behind Friday’s postponed extraordinary Politburo meeting as a transitional arrangement intended to protect Mnangagwa’s position while creating a separate process for choosing the party’s candidate for state president.

“It is not a coup by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a transitional kind of proposal,” the insider said. “Rather than a coup against Mnangagwa, it is a soft landing for him.”