Harare - Prominent human rights lawyer Doug Coltart has raised an urgent alarm over amendments to Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3), arguing that changes introduced by the Senate could create a loophole allowing Parliament to repeatedly elect replacement presidents and postpone general elections indefinitely.
In a detailed legal opinion circulated to members of the National Assembly this week, Coltart warned that the Senate’s proposed repeal or alteration related to section 94(3) of the Constitution risks resetting the presidential and parliamentary terms upon the election of a successor to fill a vacancy.
Under the current constitutional framework, a president elected after a general election assumes office under section 94(1), with Parliament’s five-year term linked to that event. A vacancy-filling successor operates under a different mechanism.
“As presently drafted, there is a credible legal argument that a President elected by Parliament to fill a vacancy… would begin a fresh seven-year presidential term, and that this could in turn trigger a fresh seven-year parliamentary term, thereby postponing the next general election,” Coltart wrote in the opinion, which he described as unsolicited and intended for both supporters and opponents of the bill.
He added that the loophole “could be repeatedly exploited indefinitely with the result that Zimbabwe may never have a general election ever again.”
Coltart called on lawmakers to close the gap by explicitly stating that any president elected to fill a vacancy serves only the remainder of the predecessor’s term and does not restart the electoral cycle.
The National Assembly was debating the Senate amendments as recently as Tuesday.
The bill, formally known as the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Bill, 2026, has sparked intense controversy.
Proponents argue it addresses governance issues, while critics like Coltart say broader elements undermine electoral democracy, including changes to term lengths and delimitation processes.
Former Higher Education Minister Prof. Jonathan Moyo dismissed Coltart’s concerns as “alarmist,” stating that the Constitution establishes a fixed, Parliament-centered electoral cycle that does not restart with vacancies.
He argued that successors serve only unexpired terms, consistent with international practice in countries such as South Africa and the United States.
Coltart responded that the point is the existence of ambiguity created by poor drafting, which should never have been introduced regardless of intent.
He noted that Minister Ziyambi’s response in Parliament raised questions about whether the loophole was deliberate.
The developments come amid heightened tensions around CAB3. Coltart was previously assaulted at a public hearing on the bill in Harare in March, an incident that drew condemnation from international legal organizations.
Parliament has not issued an official response to Coltart’s opinion. The bill now only requires presidential assent to become law.