Allerede strid om efterfølgeren i det fattige sydafrikanske land, som modtog betydelig dansk udviklingsbistand, indtil den dav. VK-regering fjernede landet som programsamarbejdspartner med kort varsel i 2002.
President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi has died, doctors and cabinet ministers have told the BBC online Friday, but this has not been officially announced.
One of the doctors who treated Mr Mutharika, 78, said the president was “clinically dead” on Thursday after suffering a cardiac arrest (hjertestop).
According to the constitution, the vice-president takes over if the head of state is incapacitated or dies in office.
But Vice-President Joyce Banda and Mr Mutharika fell out after a row over the succession in 2010, and she was expelled from the ruling Democratic People’s Party (DPP).
Mr Mutharika’s brother, Foreign Minister Peter Mutharika, was chosen instead of Ms Banda to be the DPP’s presidential candidate in the 2014 elections.
Mr Mutharika, a former World Bank economist, came to power in a 2004 election, after being backed by outgoing President Muluzi. Soon afterwards, Mr Mutharika left his United Democratic Front (UDF) to form the DPP, after accusing Mr Muluzi and other UDF leaders of opposing his campaign against corruption.
Since being re-elected with a large majority in 2009, critics allege he has demonstrated an increasingly authoritarian streak.
The president has been under mounting pressure to resign, amid accusations of nepotism and economic mismanagement. The criticism has led to a souring in relations with major foreign aid donors, especially the United Kingdom.
Last year, Mr Mutharika expelled the UK High Commissioner, Fergus Cochrane-Dyet, after a leaked embassy cable quoted the diplomat as saying that the president could not tolerate criticism.
Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with an estimated 75 per cent of the population living on less than one US dollar (5,50 DKR) a day.
The country has suffered shortages of fuel and foreign currency since the UK and other donors cancelled aid.
In 2005, the deceased President was praised for helping poor farmers by subsiding agricultural inputs.
