CAPE TOWN, South Africa – South African President Thabo Mbeki says he has formally resigned, effective as soon as a new president is chosen.
Mbeki spoke in a nationally televised address Sunday. A day earlier, his African National Congress had called on him to resign. He is leaving before his second and last constitutionally allowed term expires next year.
Mbeki lost the final battle Saturday in a long power struggle with African National Congress president Jacob Zuma.
Parliament will convene in the coming days to select an interim president before elections, which are scheduled for next year. Baleka Mbete, the speaker of the National Assembly and chairwoman of the ANC, is expected to take over.
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