Confusion in Malawi opposition

Two parallel conventions are being held in Malawi today amid wrangling over who should lead the main opposition Malawi Congress Party MCP.

The party has split into two distinct camps, one backing its president, Gwanda Chakuamba, and the other, his deputy John Tembo.

Mr Chakuamba has called a convention in Blantyre where he has most of his support, while Mr Tembo is holding one in Lilongwe, his power base.

The feud began after Mr Chakuamba passed over Mr Tembo in selecting his running mate in last year's presidential elections.

The BBC correspondent in Blantyre says that most of the sixty-one MCP members of parliament have declared their allegiance to Mr Tembo. The MCP is the former ruling party of the late President Hastings Banda who led Malawi for thirty years.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service