Muluzi denies third-term bid

Malawi’s information minister, Clement Stambuli, has said that it was premature to start discussing whether President Bakili Muluzi should run in 2004. In the first official comment on the issue, the minister told national radio the issue had never been discussed at cabinet level because 2004 was still a long way off. “At the moment President Muluzi and his ministers are busy working on developing the country and would not want to be distracted by succession issues,” Stambuli was quoted as saying. “It would be dangerous if His Excellency indicated whether he would stand again or not, let alone anointing a successor, because once he makes his stand clear people will be jostling for favours, a thing he said might derail government business,” he told PANA. The Malawi constitution says a president can only rule for two consecutive terms.