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Zimbabwe’s Ruling Party Ready to Scrap Mugabe Policies, Officials Say

  • Ruling party to court western nations, cool ‘look east’ policy
  • Southern African nation due to hold elections by Aug. 31.
Emmerson Mnangagwa
Emmerson MnangagwaPhotographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg

Zimbabwe’s ruling party plans to bolster its campaign for this year’s general elections by jettisoning former President Robert Mugabe’s “look east” policy toward China and Russia and adopt some of the opposition’s key initiatives, according to three senior party officials.

Since Emmerson Mnangagwa replaced Mugabe as president after a military intervention in November, the authorities in Harare, the capital, have shown a willingness to re-engage with western nations and institutions in an effort to kick-start an economy that has halved in size since 2000.