Updated

An official says lawmakers with Uganda's ruling party are supporting plans to remove the presidential age limit, which would allow longtime President Yoweri Museveni to extend his rule.

Chris Obore, a spokesman for the national assembly, says the lawmakers met Tuesday and decided to throw out a clause that puts the upper age limit at 75.

Museveni is 73 and ineligible to run again if the clause remains.

Museveni's party has an overwhelming majority in the national assembly, and a bill to remove the age limit is expected to pass when the procedural process starts. It's not clear when the process would start.

Museveni has led the East African country since 1986, when he took power by force.

Some critics have long accused him of wanting to rule for life.