Malawi's vice president Joyce Banda has called for calm as the nation mourns its late President Bingu wa Mutharika, who died of a heart attack on Thursday.
Banda told reporters Saturday that flags will be flown at half-staff and that broadcasters should play "somber" music for the next 10 days.
Malawi State radio confirmed earlier Saturday that President Mutharika was dead, after two days of unconfirmed reports.
Malawi's constitution stipulates that the vice president is to take over the presidency if the president dies, but Banda has not yet taken the oath of office.
Mutharika was rushed to a hospital Thursday in the capital, Lilongwe, after falling ill at his home.
He was elected president of Malawi in 2004 and won a second term in 2009.
He was credited with improving food security in Malawi and, at one time, making his country a political and economic model for other African countries. But in more recent years, the economy has stumbled and unemployment has been high. Critics of the late president say he had become increasingly autocratic. Nineteen people were killed last July in anti-government protests.
An economist by education, Mutharika was a World Bank official and served as a civil servant in Malawi. He was appointed minister of economic planning and development in 2002, and then-President Bakili Muluzi nominated him as his successor.
He later broke away from Muluzi and formed the Democratic Progressive Party, which has the majority in parliament.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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