Harare (Zimbabwe) (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved controversial constitutional amendments that would keep President Emmerson Mnangagwa in office until 2030, giving the changes full parliamentary support after earlier consent from the lower house.

The amendments are among the most contentious political issues in the country where 83-year-old Mnangagwa’s Zanu-PF party holds a strong majority in parliament and has ruled since independence in 1980.

Senate president Mabel Chinomona said 75 senators voted in favour and four against.

The bill also sailed through the national assembly on June 18, when 216 voted in favour and 42 against.

The bill will have to return to the National Assembly to sign off on technical adjustments before being signed into law by Mnangagwa, an official said.

The raft of sweeping changes – labelled a “constitutional coup” by critics – includes a provision that would extend the presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years.

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.

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