Zimbabwe’s ruling party, ZANU-PF, has secured cabinet approval for draft legislation that could keep President Emmerson Mnangagwa in office until 2030 by extending presidential terms from five years to seven, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The proposed amendments also include a shift from a direct popular vote to a parliamentary election for the presidency. Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the bill will be sent to the speaker of parliament and published in the official gazette before lawmakers debate it.

Mnangagwa, 83, assumed power in 2017 after a military coup ousted longtime leader Robert Mugabe. He is scheduled to step down in 2028 after completing two five-year terms, but a succession contest is already underway within ZANU-PF over his successor.

Opposition figures immediately condemned the cabinet’s move. Jameson Timba, a senior opposition leader, described the approval as “politically destabilising” and said the Defend the Constitution Platform would consult legal experts and regional and international partners to challenge the amendments.

ZANU-PF has governed Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 and maintains a two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament. The party also dominates the upper house through traditional leaders and allied representatives who generally vote in line with it, giving it the ability to alter the constitution.