ASSESSMENTS

Mugabe Roils Zimbabwe's Succession Waters

Nov 13, 2017 | 09:00 GMT

Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, addressing supporters on Nov. 8.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe addresses supporters on Nov. 8, two days after firing his vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mugabe's decision changes the trajectory of Zimbabwe's political transition.

(JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)

What Zimbabwe lacks in a functional and sizable economy, it more than makes up for in palace intrigue. The country's potential presidential succession was jolted Nov. 6 when longtime President Robert Mugabe sacked his vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who then fled into exile. Arriving five weeks before the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front is scheduled to hold an extraordinary party congress Dec. 12-17 to "harmonize" party divisions, Mugabe's decision changes the trajectory of Zimbabwe's political transition as the country moves inexorably beyond the only post-independence president it has known....