Harare, Zimbabwe — Dancing and cheering, lawmakers approved sweeping constitutional changes Tuesday that prominent lawyers have called the greatest challenge yet to Zimbabwean civil liberties.
Ruling party representatives erupted into celebration after Parliament voted 103-29 to endorse the constitutional overhaul that sharply restricts private property rights and allows the government to deny passports to its critics. The 22-clause Constitutional Amendment Bill now goes to President Robert Mugabe to sign into law.
The slate of amendments, the 17th since independence from Britain in 1980, strips landowners of their right to appeal expropriation and declares that all real estate is now on a 99-year lease from the government.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said this would stop 5,000 evicted white farmers from frustrating land redistribution to black Zimbabweans.
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