Zimbabwe's Zanu-PF Push for Extended Presidential Terms

0:00It's April 7th. Global news today starts now. AI-powered and worldwide. I'm Cory with the story. Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu P.F. Party is pushing constitutional changes to shift presidential elections from voters to parliament, stretch terms from five to seven years and pushback elections from 2028 to 2030. This keeps President Emerson Managawa and power until 2030, scrapping direct votes that started in 1990. The push kicked off last year with chance for Managawa to lead through 2030, facing pushback even inside the party, but gaining steam after. A key critic died earlier this year. At public hearings in Harare last week, thousands packed arenas cheering for the bill with speakers demanding longer terms and parliament picking the President. But opponents face shoving, phones, matches, and intimidation, sparking claims of violence by ruling party backers. Opposition leaders like Tendai Biti call it a slow motion coup,

1:00pointing to police bans on their meetings, beatings, and arrests amid rising. Repression. Zanu P.F. denies it, saying the crowd loves the plan for cutting costs and election violence, insisting two term limits still apply, just longer terms. Parliament could pass this in weeks, but critics plan court fights over referendum rules from the 2013 Constitution. As fears grow of sliding back to old authoritarian ways, stability hangs in the balance for Zimbabwe's future.