Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe says he is resigning immediately and voluntarily in order to have a "smooth transfer of power" after 37 years in charge.
A letter was read out in a cheering, dancing Parliament, which had been pursuing impeachment of the 93-year-old Mugabe, the world's oldest head of state.
The speaker stopped impeachment proceedings to say they had received a letter from Mugabe with the resignation "with immediate effect."
The resignation comes at the end of a week of extraordinary events that began with the military moving in last week, angered by Mugabe's firing of his longtime deputy and the positioning of the unpopular first lady to succeed him.
Frustration spilled over in the once-prosperous southern African nation after the economy collapsed and Mugabe's government cracked down on opposition.
Impeachment allegations against Mugabe included that he "allowed his wife to usurp constitutional power" and that he is "of advanced age" and too incapacitated to rule.
Mugabe also was accused of allowing unpopular first lady Grace Mugabe to threaten to kill the recently fired Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other officials.
A Zimbabwe ruling party official said recently-fired Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa will take over as the country's leader within 48 hours.
Ruling party chief whip Lovemore Matuke says Mnangagwa, who fled the country after his firing, "is not far from here."
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