Malawi ex-president endorses rival for elections
Malawi's ex-president Bakili Muluzi has endorsed a political rival to be the main opposition presidential candidate in elections next month, a week after their parties formed an alliance.
Muluzi, leader of the United Democratic Front (UDF), decided to back Malawi Congress Party (MDC) chief John Tembo against President Bingu wa Mutharika and five other candidates in the May 19 election.
"I want to assure you honorable Tembo that we will support you as a presidential candidate. There is need to field one presidential candidate," he told Tembo before 5,000 people at a joint rally in Blantyre late Saturday.
While Muluzi agreed to back Tembo for the presidential race, he said the two parties will maintain their identities and party symbols and separately fight the parliamentary elections.
"We will vote for our candidates and the MCP will also vote for their own candidates... that is what politics is all about," Muluzi added.
The election commission last month rejected Muluzi's own bid to run for election for a third time.
The commission ruled that he had already hit a two-term limit after serving from 1994 to 2004, after toppling the notorious former dictator Kamuzu Banda.
Corruption charges against Muluzi have overshadowed his bid to return to power.
He was charged in February by the Anti-Corruption Bureau with dozens of graft counts over the alleged theft of 12 million dollars in aid money.
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