Zimbabwe lawmakers back bill extending presidential terms to seven years

Zimbabwe’s lower house of parliament on Thursday approved a controversial bill that extends presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years and removes direct presidential elections, Al Jazeera reports.

This move would allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to remain in office until 2030, with speaker Jacob Mudenda saying that 216 lawmakers voted for the draft legislation, easily surpassing the two-thirds threshold of 187 votes needed to amend the constitution.

42 lawmakers voted against the change.

The package of amendments eliminates popular presidential elections, that has been held since 1990, and instead hands the power to choose future presidents, solely to parliament. 

It also delays scheduled parliamentary elections from 2028 to 2030. Mnangagwa, 83, who ascended to power in 2017 with military backing, subsequently winning in the disputed ballots in 2018 and 2023, is therefore positioned to complete what would become an extended term under the new timeframe, according to BBC.

The changes represent the climax of a sustained campaign by the ruling Zanu-PF party, which has governed since independence in 1980. 

The party secured cabinet backing for the constitutional overhaul earlier this year and has pushed the legislation through parliament with determined majority support. 

The bill will now move to the Senate, where it is similarly expected to pass, before being presented to the president for enactment.

Opposition parties, civil society organizations and constitutional lawyers have strongly criticized the move, arguing that fundamental alterations to presidential term lengths and the method of electing the head of state should be decided by the electorate in a national referendum, not just by parliamentary vote. 

They point to the 2013 constitution, which limited presidents to two terms and stipulated that any extension of term limits requires voter endorsement in a referendum.

It further specified that a sitting president cannot benefit from such an extension without voter approval.

Supporters of the amendments say the changes will promote continuity and stability. Critics, however, warn the measures risk further erosion of democratic accountability in a country where Mnangagwa’s reign has been marred with economic difficulties, contested elections and growing concerns about democratic backsliding.

A legal challenge seeking to stop the bill was dismissed by Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court.