00:01The last hurdle is passed.
00:04Zimbabwe's parliament accepted a constitutional change
00:07that extends the presidential term by two years on Tuesday.
00:11The bill was originally proposed by the Senate.
00:14It will now only need the presidential signature to become law.
00:19The constitutional amendment will extend both the presidential
00:23and the parliamentary terms from five to seven years.
00:26However, the bill also contains a democratic loophole
00:31that has been strongly criticised by the opposition.
00:35Another amendment gives parliament the power
00:37to directly appoint the president of the country
00:39instead of having him elected by voters.
00:42This provision would however mean that current president Emerson Mnangagwa
00:48could obtain a fresh seven-year fair term
00:51by having himself appointed by parliament.
00:54That same provision could technically also allow parliament
00:57to renew its own term instead of going through elections.
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