Masvingo, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe was confirmed on Saturday as his party's sole
candidate for the next presidential election in 2018, when he
will be 94.
Supporters at a party conference sang a song titled "Mugabe
should rule until eternity" as the veteran leader rose to give a
speech in which he called for an end to infighting within the
ruling Zanu-PF over his eventual successor.
"We came with our problems, which we heard. We also came
knowing we had differences. We agreed our differences should end
and fighting should stop," said Mugabe, who has faced
unprecedented protests this year.
Mugabe, the only ruler that the southern African nation has
known since independence from Britain in 1980, has come under
pressure from a deteriorating economy, corruption and cash
shortages that have seen the central bank introducing a new
"bond note" currency in November.
In July, he was deserted by some of his once stalwart
supporters, war veterans that have backed him in previous
elections.
Still, Mugabe retains unrivalled support in Zanu-PF, which
is grappling with factional fights as party officials manoeuvre
for advantage in a post-Mugabe era.
Zanu-PF's various entities, including the youth and women's
wings, confirmed him as the sole candidate to contest the 2018
election at the end of a two-day conference on Saturday, which
was held in Masvingo town, 300km south of the
capital, Harare.
That means potential successors who wish to challenge Mugabe
for the leadership of the party would have to wait for the 2019
party congress when Zanu-PF chooses its leaders.
There are two camps vying to succeed Mugabe, with one with
faction supporting Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa while
another backs first lady Grace Mugabe.
In one of its resolutions, the Zanu-PF Youth League said
presidential term limits should be abolished and Mugabe should
be declared life president.
Under the constitution adopted in 2013, Mugabe can only
serve one final term.
Political analysts say Mugabe runs an effective patronage
system that rewards supporters and punishes those who seek to
challenge his rule, as happened to his former vice president of
10 years Joice Mujuru in 2014.