Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa. [Courtesy]
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.
