ADDIS ABABA, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) on Tuesday urged all political actors in Malawi to maintain the prevailing positive climate to consolidate the peace gains following the recent election.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat emphasized the need to consolidate the positive gains of recent political efforts in the south African nation.
Faki urged the political parties in Malawi to "resolve any post-election disputes through peaceful means as provided for within the established national constitutional and legal framework."
Faki said the AU position goes in line with the interim election observation statement that was issued by the AU Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) to Malawi following the election.
The AU Election Observation Mission to Malawi, which was led by the former president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, had revealed that Malawi's Tripartite Elections, which was held on May 21, "took place in a peaceful environment and at the time of this statement, the mission had not noted any serious concerns with the process, either witnessed or observed."
The AU chairperson's call on Tuesday came a day after the newly re-elected Malawian President Peter Mutharika, on Sunday took a swipe at the opposition saying he did not rig the May 21 presidential elections and that the Malawians were the ones who elected him.
The Malawian president made the remarks in response to opposition leaders' claim that the election was rigged to favor Mutharika.
Faki also on Tuesday stressed that "AUEOM, and various other international and domestic observer groups, have testified to the peaceful nature of the Tripartite Elections."
