The  intervention  by  the  military  was  named  ‘Operation  Restore  the  Legacy’,  but  in  reality  it  was  a   coup  in  favour  of  the  Mnangawga  faction  in  Zanu  PF.  However,  the  military  were  fully  aware  that   neither  SADC  nor  the  African  Union  would  recognise  a  new  regime  brought  in  through  such  means.   Thus  Mnangagwa  and  his  supporters  in  the  Zimbabwe  Defence  Force  opted  for  a  carefully   choreographed,  three  pronged  strategy.  Firstly,  as  mentioned  above,  the  avoidance  of  any   reference  to  a  coup  d’état  and  the  continued  acknowledgement  that  Mugabe  remained  the   Commander  in  Chief  of  the  armed  forces.  Secondly,  the  ‘Mugabe  must  go’  march  organised  by  the   War  Veterans  on  the  18th  November  was  devised  to  provide  popular  support  for  the  military’s   action.  The  organisers  counted  on  the  accumulated  resentment  for  the  Mugabe  regime  amongst   the  Zimbabwean  citizenry  and  their  calculation  was  correct.  The  thousands  that  turned  out  for  the   march  celebrated  in  a  carnival  of  cathartic  joy  and  unified  release,  manifested  in  a  temporary   romance  between  the  armed  forces  and  the  citizenry.  Thirdly,  in  order  to  provide  the  constitutional   veneer  for  the  military  intervention,  the  Zanu  PF  Central  Committee  met  on  the  19th  November  and   made  several  decisions.  It  expressed  gratitude  to  the  military  for  its  intervention  in  the  internal   affairs  of  the  party,  with  a  view  to  bringing  normalcy  to  the  party  and  government.           Crowds  cheer  a  tank  on  the  streets  of  Harare,  18  November  2018      More  decisively,  the  Central  Committee  expelled  twenty  members  of  the  G40  faction  from  the   party  and  removed  Robert  Mugabe  from  his  position  as  President  and  First  Secretary  of  the  ruling   party,  also  recommending  that  he  resign  as  state  President.  Grace  Mugabe  was  also  relieved  of  her   post  as  Secretary  for  the  Women’s  League  and  Vice  President  Phelekezela  Mphoko  removed  from   his  post.  The  party  then  elected  Emmerson  Mnangagwa  as  the  new  interim  President  of  Zanu  PF   and  nominated  him  to  fill  the  vacancy  of  state  President.  The  Central  Committee  also  reinstated   membership  to  all  those  who  were  subjected  to  disciplinary  measures  since  2014,  and   recommended  that  War  Veterans  be  placed  in  ‘strategic  positions  within  the  Party  and  Government   on  the  basis  of  merit’.8  One  day  before  this  Central  Committee  meeting,  the  Commander  of  the   Zimbabwe  National  Army,  Lt.  General  Valerio  Sibanda,  announced  the  end  of  Operation  Restore  the                                                                                                               8  Press  Statement  by  the  Zanu  PF  Secretary  for  Information  and  Publicity  Cde  Ambassador  S.K  Moyo  on  the   outcome  of  the  Central  Committee  Special  Session  held  at  the  Party  Headquarters  on  19  November  2017.       4