At a party convention held in August 2013, delegates overwhelmingly opposed, through a voice vote, changing the MCP's constitution to allow Tembo to stand for a third term as MCP President. Lazarus Chakwera was then elected to succeed Tembo on 10 August 2013. Handing over the party leadership to Chakwera on 11 August, Tembo urged party members to unite behind his successor: "He is the only hope MCP and Malawi has to restore the development we have been dreaming about". Saying that he intended to retire from politics, Tembo reflected on his age: "Yes, I am old. Most of my friends died. But everyone's life is in God's hands." Later in the month, Tembo said that he intended to spend his retirement "reading, writing, and farming", although for the time being he continued to serve as an MP and as Leader of the Opposition. He denied that the MCP delegates had been opposing him when they refused to change the party constitution, saying that he had previously expressed his wish to retire and that the delegates had therefore simply honored his wishes.