The president of Zimbabwe signed into law on Tuesday a bill extending his term of office by two years to 2030, in a move that critics argue tightens his autocratic grip on power and erodes the nation’s democracy.
The president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, 83, and his allies say the move will bring stability to the southern African nation, which has struggled for years with astronomical inflation, unemployment and corruption. Zimbabwe’s problems have been so deep over the years that experts estimate that at least hundreds of thousands of citizens have fled the country.
Mr. Mnangagwa defied pressure to send the bill, which amends the Constitution, to a public referendum. The law also changes how Zimbabwe’s president is elected. In the past, voters have directly elected the president. Now, they will only elect members of Parliament, who will then choose the country’s leader. Critics say that will only further entrench the reign of Mr. Mnangagwa’s party, ZANU-PF, which has governed Zimbabwe since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980.
“The country is doomed,” Jacob Ngarivhume, the leader of an opposition party, Transform Zimbabwe, said recently. He added that the country was not prepared “to deal with a forever president.”
Mr. Mnangagwa came to power in 2017 after leading a coup that forced out Robert Mugabe, who had served as president for nearly four decades. Mr. Mugabe was known to rule with an iron fist and was accused of ensuring he was elected through rigged elections. While there was initial optimism that Mr. Mnangagwa might run a more democratic government, many analysts now see his tenure as a repeat of his predecessor’s.
Mr. Mnangagwa, one of several aging leaders on the world’s youngest continent, won his first full term in office in 2018. He was re-elected in 2023, but international observers called the result into question, saying the process was marred by irregularities, including intimidation and violence by ZANU-PF.
Officials of the party, which led Zimbabwe’s liberation movement from Britain, have shrugged off the criticism of the bill to extend Mr. Mnangagwa’s term from five years to seven, saying that it was for the benefit of the country.
The bill “ushers in a period of political and governance certainty,” said Christopher Mutsvangwa, the spokesman for ZANU-PF. “This attribute of stability and predictability is the stuff investors hanker for.”
Instability over the years in Zimbabwe, which is rich in the critical mineral lithium, has been a drag on the largely stable region of southern Africa. The country also has drawn the ire of the West, particularly for its decision to seize white-owned land under Mr. Mugabe. Zimbabwe has not been able to access financing from major international development banks since 2001 because of a Congressional law requiring the United States to veto such funding until the country enacts certain reforms, including holding clean elections and addressing the land seizures.
The United States has also imposed sanctions of some Zimbabwean officials, including Mr. Mnangagwa.
Jeffrey Moyo contributed reporting from Harare, Zimbabwe.
