南非执政党决定不再让祖马担任总统

Leaders of the African National Congress will hold a news conference Tuesday morning, where they are expected to announce their decision to remove embattled President Jacob Zuma as head of state.

News outlets say the ANC's national executive committee decided to recall Zuma in the predawn hours Tuesday after a marathon 13-hour meeting in Pretoria. The decision was apparently sealed after ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa privately met with Zuma late Monday night in Pretoria as the talks dragged on. Earlier reports from state broadcaster SABC said the committee had given Zuma 48 hours to turn in his resignation.

The decision to remove Zuma from office came after a week of negotiations with the scandal-scarred president failed to convince him to quit.

Pressure has mounted on the 75-year-old Zuma to step down since Ramaphosa took over as ANC head in December, defeating the president's ex-wife Nkosazana Dlamina-Zuma. The political turmoil forced the cancellation of Zuma's annual State of the Nation address before a joint session of Parliament last week.

Zuma is scheduled to step down next year. An opposition coalition led by the Democratic Alliance and the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters says it will demand parliament be dissolved and early elections held once Zuma is out.

南非执政的非国大的领导人星期二上午举行记者会，预计宣布他们决定不再让身陷麻烦的祖马总统继续担任国家元首。

媒体报道说，非国大的全国执行委员会在普利托利亚经过13小时的马拉松会议后星期二凌晨决定罢免祖马。看来这项决定是在非国大主席拉马福萨星期一深夜在普利托利亚与祖马私下会面后最后做出的。南非国家广播电台早些时候的报道说，非国大全国执行委员会要求祖马在48小时内提出辞职。

非国大做出决定前，与丑闻缠身的祖马进行了一个星期争取他辞职的谈判，但是无果而终。

自从拉马福萨去年12月在竞选中击败祖马的前妻担任非国大主席以来，要求75岁的祖马辞职的压力日益增加。政治动乱迫使祖马定于上星期对议会两院做国情咨文的计划取消。

祖马的任期明年到期。一个由民主联盟和经济自由战士党领导的反对派联盟说，在祖马下台后，将要求解散议会，提前举行选举。