Zimbabwe Just Passed a Bill to End Direct Presidential Elections and Keep Mnangagwa in Power Until 2030.

Asante Times Admin 

 

Zimbabwe's House of Assembly has passed Constitution Amendment Bill No. 3, one of the most significant rewrites of the country's democratic framework since the 2013 constitution was adopted.

 

The bill does two things that every Zimbabwean and every African watching should understand clearly.

 

First, it extends presidential and parliamentary terms from five years to seven. That alone would push President Emmerson Mnangagwa's current and constitutionally final term from 2028 to 2030.

 

Second, and more consequentially, it scraps direct presidential elections entirely. Under the new system, Zimbabweans would no longer vote for their president. Parliament would choose the head of state at a joint sitting after every general election. Given that ZANU-PF holds a supermajority in the National Assembly, this effectively means the ruling party picks the president indefinitely.

 

The bill now moves to the Senate. Legal challenges are already before the Constitutional Court, with opponents arguing the amendment violates entrenched provisions in the constitution that were specifically designed to prevent sitting leaders from extending their own time in power.

 

Mnangagwa has called himself a constitutionalist for years. The constitution disagrees with what he is doing.

 

Africa has seen this script before. The names change. The method changes. The outcome rarely does.

 

What happens in Zimbabwe next matters for the whole continent. 

 

Source: Historical Africa