Bingu wa Mutharika

===Nomination===
Mutharika was nominated by President Muluzi as his successor. Mutharika won the [[2004 Malawian general election|presidential election]] on 20 May 2004, ahead of [[John Tembo]] and [[Gwanda Chakuamba]], and took office a few days later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ecosocc-au.org/index.php?page=au |title=Ecosocc |publisher=Ecosocc-au.org |access-date=13 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130721201814/http://www.ecosocc-au.org/index.php?page=au |archive-date=21 July 2013  }}</ref>

On 7 October 2006, Mutharika stated his intention to seek re-election in the [[2009 Malawian presidential election|2009 presidential election]] as the DPP candidate.<ref>[http://english.people.com.cn/200610/09/eng20061009_310024.html "Malawian president reveals ambitions for re-election"], Xinhua (''People's Daily Online''), 9 October 2006.</ref> Two years later, in October 2008, the DPP's national governing council unanimously chose Mutharika as the party's candidate for the 2009 election,<ref>[http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hHHat6P45nWvRFA2_1aHW4s7Lrfw "Malawi's Mutharika nominated for re-election"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707193114/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hHHat6P45nWvRFA2_1aHW4s7Lrfw |date=7 July 2009 }}, AFP, 22 October 2008.</ref> which he won with 66.7% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mec.org.mw/Elections/2009ResultsReports/tabid/98/Default.aspx |title=2009 Results Reports |publisher=Mec.org.mw |access-date=13 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105072547/http://www.mec.org.mw/Elections/2009ResultsReports/tabid/98/Default.aspx |archive-date=5 January 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>