Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera has conceded defeat to Peter Mutharika, his opponent in the nation’s presidential election.
DAILY POST reports that Chakwera accepted defeat on Wednesday during a national broadcast, and also called Mutharika.
“It is only right that I concede defeat out of respect for your will as citizens and out of respect for the constitution,” Chakwera said.
Chakwera secured more than 700,000 votes in the 24 of the 36 districts announced, while Mutharika garnered 2,000,000.
At the time of filing this report, the national election commission has yet to release results from the remaining 12 districts.
The 85-year-old Mutharika is the country’s former president who ruled the country from May 2014 to June 2020.
Recall that in 2015, then-Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan called late Muhammadu Buhari, the opposition candidate at the time, to concede defeat ahead of the final tally released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Jonathan’s decision was widely praised for helping to ease tensions and prevent unrest in the country.
Like Nigeria’s Jonathan, Malawi’s President concedes election defeat