South Africa's ruling party ousts Mbeki STEPHANIE NOLEN
Globe and Mail Update JOHANNESBURG — South African President Thabo Mbeki has been asked to step down by his party, the African National Congress, in the country's greatest episode of political upheaval since the end of apartheid. Senior members of the governing ANC met Friday and today and by noon local time had decided that the president would be forced to go.
"The ANC has decided to recall the president of the republic before his mandate has expired," ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe told journalists following a meeting of the party leadership. "Our decision has been concluded, the formalities are now subject to the parliamentary process ... We have communicated our decision [to Mr. Mbeki] and that we will be going through parliamentary process." Mr. Mantashe said the president was not surprised and would comply with the party's request to leave office. "He did not display shock," he said. "He welcomed the news and agreed that he is going to participate in the process and the formalities." Deputy president Phumzilie Mlambo-Ngcuka has already said she will go if Mr. Mbeki does; it is expected that half the cabinet, Mbeki loyalists, will also quit if he leaves office, throwing the government into turmoil. Mr. Mantashe said that Mr. Zuma is now meeting with cabinet ministers in an attempt to convince them to stay - with heavy focus on Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, who is credited with drafting the policies that have allowed South Africa to post steady economic growth in recent years.
Mr. Mbeki, 66, is a former freedom fighter who took over as president from Nelson Mandela in 1999. He has been considered one of Africa's great statesmen, for his advocacy of better governance and transparency; just last week he was congratulated for having brokered a deal in Zimbabwe's long-running political crisis. His term was due to end next year.
But his long-running feud with former deputy president Jacob Zuma – who pushed him out as president of the ANC last December – has become his downfall. Eight days ago, a high court judge threw out a host of corruption, racketeering and tax evasion charges against Mr. Zuma on a procedural issue and suggested that Mr. Mbeki may have used state institutions in his vendetta against Mr. Zuma as part of a "titanic power struggle" within the ANC.
Mr. Zuma's champions - the left wing of the ANC, including the still-powerful Communist Party and the trade union movement - have long argued that the charges were a political conspiracy (although the judge stopped well short of suggesting Mr. Zuma was innocent and invited prosecutors to re-file charges.)
Emboldened, the Zuma camp went for blood this week, determined to force Mr. Mbeki out. The political spectacle has been as lurid as it is dramatic; the traditional respect for Mr. Mbeki as an older leader and a key figure in the fight against white rule has evaporated. Mr. Zuma mockingly referred to spending any energy on him as "beating a dead snake."
Yet ANC insiders say that Mr. Zuma pushed for calm, concerned that if Mr. Mbeki were forced out early, and much of the cabinet followed him, investors in South Africa's still-rebuilding economy could pull out in alarm. But those who argued that Mr. Mbeki should be allowed to serve out his team with dignity lost the fight.
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