Robert Mugabe resigned as president of Zimbabwe on Tuesday, parliament speaker Jacob Mudenda announced, bringing the curtain down on a 37-year reign.
Mugabe was swept from power as his autocratic rule crumbled within days of a military takeover.
"I Robert Gabriel Mugabe in terms of section 96 of the constitution of Zimbabwe hereby formally tender my resignation... with immediate effect," said speaker Mudenda, reading the letter.
he bombshell news was delivered to a special joint session of parliament.
Lawmakers had convened to debate a motion to impeach Mugabe, who has dominated every aspect of Zimbabwean public life since independence in 1980.
It was greeted on the streets of the capital Harare with car horns and wild cheering.
It capped an unprecedented week in which the military seized control, tens of thousands of Zimbabwean citizens took to the streets to demand the president go and 93-year-old Mugabe wrestled to remain in power.
Mugabe had ruled Zimbabwe almost unopposed since the country won independence from Britain.
But his efforts to position his wife Grace as his successor triggered fury in the military that had underpinned his regime.
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HARARE, ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwe's incoming president Emmerson Mnangagwa was preparing Thursday to take power after the shock resignation of Robert Mugabe brought 37 years of authoritarian rule to an end.
Mnangagwa, who has close ties to the army and the security establishment, returned to the country on Wednesday to take the reins and told adoring crowds in Harare that they were witnessing "unfolding full democracy".
He will be sworn in as president at an inauguration ceremony on Friday, officials said.
The speech was his first since Mugabe fired him as vice president on November 6 over a succession tussle with the former first lady, a move that prompted the military's intervention to force Mugabe from power, leading to his resignation on Tuesday.
"Today we are witnessing the beginning of a new and unfolding full democracy in our country," he said in front of hundreds of supporters, some wearing shirts emblazoned with images of the 75-year-old leader.
"We want to grow our economy, we want jobs... all patriotic Zimbabweans (should) come together, work together," he said.
He was surrounded by a large security detail and arrived at the headquarters of the ruling ZANU-PF party in a presidential-style motorcade.
Two young men held a stuffed crocodile above their heads, a reference to Mnangagwas's nickname, earned for his reputation for stealth and ruthlessness.
All I Want Is Job Creation
He had flown in earlier to Harare's Manyame airbase from South Africa, and met key ZANU-PF officials before heading to the State House, the nerve centre of Zimbabwe's political establishment, for a briefing.
"Great speech all round, can't describe how I felt seeing him after what he went through. All I want is job creation," said Remigio Mutero, 30, an unemployed IT graduate.
Mugabe's iron grip ended Tuesday in a shock announcement to parliament, where MPs had convened to impeach the 93-year-old leader who dominated every aspect of Zimbabwean public life for decades.
He had last been seen in public on Friday and had given a televised address on Sunday, but neither he nor his wife Grace have been seen since, with their whereabouts unknown.
On the streets, the news that his long and often brutal leadership was over sparked wild celebrations which lasted late into the night, with crowds dancing and cheering amid a cacophony of car horns.
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