HARARE - An attack on the leader of Zimbabwe's opposition party leader has sparked conversation about the country and imminent constitutional crisis.
That's the stern warning from opposition leader and constitutionalist Professor Lovemore Madhuku.
He says the military and police are now beholden to the President as they were under Robert Mugabe.
Madhuku and 17 members of his party were beaten up inside a private office while holding a meeting.
There's been a crackdown on dissidents since the decision to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa's rule.
Madhuku and other members of his party were meeting behind closed doors on private property.
They were discussing ways to block a bill in parliament to extend Mnangagwa's rule.
During the meeting, men burst in and assaulted the members of the National Constitutional Assembly.
They are almost certain that the intruders were state spy agents.
"Its a breakdown of constitutional order in the country. And that breakdown of constitutional order in the country is being engineered by the ruling party. The breakdown comes in the sense that there are no state institutions that can function anymore. The police is not functioning like a police force for the state.
"The army is not functioning like an army for the state. These are all institutions that have become institutions of a party. Once you become an institution of a party, you have become institution of a person because Zanu PF is nothing but an institution held by whoever is the leader at the time. Remember during the time former President Robert Mugabe it was one center of power," Madhuku said.
But Zanu PF's Director if Information, Farai Mrapira, said Mnangagwa is well loved and that the opposition is spreading fake news.
"I think that is just grandstanding by people who know that they have no actually constituency in which to stop this Mnangagwa rule extension because this is something that came from the people. They know that people are not with them. So their only recourse is to create false narratives and create false allegations and try to come up with serious issues. Otherwise this is just political conjecture which there are engaging in and attention seeking.
"People need to understand that Zanu PF is the only game in town and for anyone else to have relevance they have to be talking to or about Zanu PF and this is essential what these dead weights are trying to do .There are trying to find political relevance attaching their names to Zanu PF."
Mnangagwa's two-term rule ends in 2028, but if the bill becomes law, it will be extended by two years to 2030.