ZANU PF activists have begun campaigning for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s third term, a few weeks after the ruling party attained a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.
The slogan “2030 vaMnangagwa vanenge vachipo” loosely translated to “In 2030 President Mnangagwa will still be in office” is now in common use.
ZANU PF attained a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly following the by-elections held on 3 February 2024.
ZANU PF now has 190 seats (150 directly elected through first past the post, 33 proportional representation for women and seven youth quota) out of 280 seats in the National Assembly.
However, ZANU PF does not and cannot have a two-thirds majority during the tenure of the 10th Parliament.
In the August 2023 harmonised elections, ZANU PF obtained 33 out of 80 seats in the Senate and will therefore need 21 seats to get a two-thirds-majority which is required to pass a constitutional amendment on its own.
This is possible because 18 of the Senators are traditional leaders and the majority of CCC senators are reportedly aligned to CCC activist Sengezo Tshabangu who recalled a sizeable number of the opposition party’s MPs leading to by-elections that secured ZANU PF a two-third majority in the lower house of Parliament.
But even if ZANU PF attains a two-thirds majority in both the Lower House and the Senate to change the constitution to remove the presidential term limit, Mnangagwa cannot benefit from the change, but his successor.
More: Pindula News