Overview
- Ministers approved draft Constitutional Amendment No. 3 and sent it for legal review before publication in the government gazette and introduction to parliament.
- The bill extends presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years, shifts presidential selection to a joint sitting of parliament, and adds 10 presidentially appointed senators to expand the chamber to 90 seats.
- The government says the changes would enhance political stability and policy continuity to complete development programmes.
- Opposition leaders and legal experts call the effort a constitutional coup and are preparing court challenges and appeals to regional bodies, arguing tenure-extending changes must go to a referendum.
- ZANU-PF holds a two-thirds majority in the lower house and dominates the upper house, positioning the party to pass the amendments in parliament absent a successful court ruling or referendum.