Malawi leader chooses foreign min as running mate

LILONGWE Feb 6 (Reuters) - Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika picked Foreign Minister Joyce Banda on Friday as his running mate for the May presidential and parliamentary election.

Wa Mutharika chose Banda, 67, who held several cabinet posts under former president Bakili Muluzi, over Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe, who is respected by the opposition and donors.

Malawi goes to the polls on May 19. Wa Mutharika is expected to win after presiding over four years of economic success which has seen the economy grow by an average 7 percent with inflation reduced to single digits.

"I have decided to pick Joyce Banda as my running mate to support women in the country and because of her experience," wa Mutharika said as he presented his papers to the Malawi Electoral Commission.

The electoral commission is expected to announce the presidential candidates in the next week.

Banda is a well-known educator and entrepreneur who entered politics in the run up to the country's first ever multiparty election in 1994 and become a legislator with the then ruling United Democratic Front party.

Gondwe has said Malawi would not able to meet some of its economic targets because of the global financial crisis, which may hurt exports.

The agricultural southern African nation relies heavily on balance of payment support from donors which accounts for 80 percent of its development budget.

Wa Mutharika's rule has been troubled since he took office in 2004, after winning an election marred by violence and rigging accusations and as political crises have threatened to derail international donor programmes. (Reporting by Mabvuto Banda; Editing by Louise Ireland and Michael Georgy)