LILONGWE, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and regional observers have praised the country's Sept. 16 presidential election as "free and fair."
"The Commission has meticulously followed through the entire electoral process on the basis of the law that governs elections in Malawi. The assessment of the Commission, therefore, is that this presidential election was free and fair," MEC Chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja said Wednesday night before declaring the final results.
"These results are a true reflection of the will of the people of Malawi as envisaged under Section 12 of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi," she added.
Mtalimanja announced on Wednesday night that former President Peter Mutharika, running on the Democratic Progressive Party ticket, won the presidency with nearly 3.04 million votes, or 56.8 percent of the valid ballots cast -- surpassing the 50-percent-plus-one threshold required for outright victory.
Incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party secured about 1.77 million votes, representing 33 percent.
Hours before the results' announcement, Chakwera, 70, conceded defeat in a televised address -- an act widely described as a sign of democratic maturity in the southern African nation.
"I have already instructed my team to begin preparations to render the incoming administration any support needed to ensure a seamless process that safeguards our nation's peace, order, institutions, public services, and constitutionalism," said Chakwera.
His concession and pledge to support Mutharika's government drew praise from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Electoral Observer Mission (SEOM).
"SEOM extends its profound gratitude to the Malawi nation for its people's tolerance of divergent political views and democratic maturity, and urges all stakeholders to remain true to these attributes beyond the release of the final results," read a statement released Thursday by the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation. ■
