Sweeping changes to Zimbabwe's constitution that will extend the presidential term by two years sailed through their final parliamentary hurdle on Tuesday.
Sweeping changes to Zimbabwe's constitution that will extend the presidential term by two years sailed through their final parliamentary hurdle on Tuesday, now requiring only President Emmerson Mnangagwa's signature to become law.
The amendments will also scrap direct presidential elections.
The National Assembly voted 226 to 41, the speaker announced, to accept the changes proposed by the Senate when it agreed to the new legislation on June 24.
The raft of changes includes a provision that would extend the presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years.
President to be appointed by parliament
This means that the last of Mnangagwa's constitutionally limited two terms would be extended until 2030.
Another amendment gives parliament the power to appoint the president, doing away with direct presidential elections that were introduced in 1987, seven years after independence.
However, the later changes also open the way for a president to begin a fresh seven-year term when elected by parliament, lawyer and leading opposition figure Doug Coltart told AFP.
Mnangagwa came to power in 2017 after the ouster of President Robert Mugabe at the age of 93 and after 37 years in power.
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