The new Constitution of Malawi came into force provisionally on 18 May, 1994. It replaced the Republican Constitution of 1966 which had been amended in 1993 in order to allow for the re-introduction of a multi-party democracy, the reincorporation, as an interim measure, of the Bill of Rights as contained in the Independence Constitution of 1964, and the abolition of the life presidency created under section 10(3) of the 1966 Constitution as amended in 1970 so as to provide that Dr Banda was to be president of the Republic for his lifetime.