Der var røster om, at det fattige land ikke ville følge forfatningen og udpege en anden, men de kom på andre tanker efter bl.a. kraftige forestillinger fra førende vestlige bistandsdonorer.
Malawi’s Vice-President Joyce Banda has been sworn in as president following the death of Bingu wa Mutharika, BBC online reports Saturday.
She becomes southern Africa’s first female head of state after taking the oath before parliament in the Malawian capital, Lilongwe.
Ms Banda (61), who had been vice-president since 2009. Mr Mutharika, 78, went into cardiac arrest (fik hjertestop) on Thursday.
There had been speculation that the late president’s inner circle was trying to circumvent Malawi’s constitution to prevent Ms Banda from taking over and instead install his brother, Foreign Minister Peter Mutharika.
Ms Banda had fallen out with Mr Mutharika in 2010 and became one of his fiercest critics. She was expelled from the ruling Democratic People’s Party (DPP) and formed the People’s Party.
She was elected as vice-president in 2009 and Mr Mutharika had failed in his attempts to have her removed from her post.
At present, there are just a handful of MPs in her party but many more are likely to join now that she is president.
On Friday, Information Minister Patricia Kaliati had said Ms Banda could not take over as head of state because she had gone into opposition. The UK, the US and the EU all called on Malawi to respect its constitution.
Mr Mutharika governed Malawi for eight years, but was recently accused of mismanaging the economy and becoming increasingly autocratic.
He fell out last year with former colonial ruler Britain, which withdrew its direct aid, accusing the Malawian government of mishandling the economy and of failing to uphold human rights.
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.
Ms Banda has a large charity to help educate and empower women. Her father was a well-known musician; her sister was hired to work in pop star Madonna’s school.
