Zimbabwe's ruling ZANUPF party said yesterday it had asked President Robert Mugabe to stay on as party leader, quashing speculation of a leadership challenge during a crucial party congress.
"We endorsed Comrade Mugabe for the record. There are no limitations on his constitutional term," the ZANU-PF administration secretary, Mr Didymus Mutasa, said.
The state-owned Herald newspaper reported that congress delegates had agreed that the 76-year-old Mr Mugabe should retain his post. Mr Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, was re-elected to another five-year term by the party last year.
"There was tumultuous applause when Vice President [Simon] Muzenda, in his vote of thanks to the president's keynote address, said the congress was asking Comrade Mugabe not to step down until the burning issue [of land redistribution] had been addressed," the newspaper said in a report.
Mr Mugabe - who is struggling politically in the face of a deepening economic crisis blamed on government mismanagement - had been expected to face a leadership challenge from the floor.
Some ZANU-PF officials had seen the congress as their best chance to confront a leader who they consider a political liability ahead of a presidential election in 2002.
But analysts said Mr Mugabe had avoided a challenge by purging provincial branches of rivals suspected of plotting to oust him.
The presidential spokesman, Mr George Charamba, said Mr Mugabe's leadership had never been on the party agenda, and he would serve the full five-year term as leader.
"The president was voted into office last December for a period of five years and he is going to serve his term," Mr Charamba said.
He said Mr Muzenda's reference to the land issue was a key reason for the party to endorse Mr Mugabe, but did not suggest he might resign if it was resolved before 2002:
"His [Mr Mugabe's] term is defined by the party constitution, not by a government or party programme."
Mr Mugabe urged black Zimbabweans yesterday to unite against a white "racist" minority he blamed for the country's problems. He also vowed to press ahead with a controversial plan to seize thousands of white-owned farms for black resettlement.
The government has identified 3,041 white-owned farms for resettlement, and has so far served formal notice on about 2,000 farmers of its intention to seize their land.
Mr Mugabe was expected to appoint a new politburo, the party's decision-making body.