Story highlights Stephen Chan: Robert Mugabe's resignation does not spell democracy for Zimbabwe

Those who succeed him have blood on their hands and will need to reinvent themselves as Western-friendly pragmatists, writes Chan

Stephen Chan is a professor of international relations at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies and the author of "Robert Mugabe: A Life of Power and Politics." The views expressed in this commentary are his own.

(CNN) The resignation of Robert Mugabe, after the intervention of the army and then the move to impeach him, ends his 37 years in power -- which included his physical and intellectual degeneration over the last decade.

Even his own party saw he had lost the capacity to function as a modern president in perilous economic times. Accordingly, the impeachment motion in Parliament was put forward by his own party, and seconded by the opposition.

But those coming after Mugabe are not good, clean men. Some have real blood on their hands. The need for reinvention will include their own transformation into Western-friendly pragmatists. The era of ideology is over, and the rhetoric of nationalism will need to be replaced by the hard work of rebuilding.

This rebuilding will require some emergency injection of liquidity by foreign powers. The Chinese are in a position to do some of this -- and have indeed acted as an ally to Mugabe in the past. If the West does not provide support, the question of future influence may be at stake.

But, after a short period of fiscal stabilization, the hard work of rebuilding not just an economy, but foundations for a prosperous economy, will demand the best brains of both Mugabe's party -- the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front -- and the opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change. A coalition government must be formed in order to showcase this kind of capacity.

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