Alois Schneider, German head of division for Southern Africa in the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), made the appeal in Lilongwe on Tuesday during the official opening of a two day bilateral negotiations on development cooperation between his country and Malawi.

He said Germany is aware that the bilateral discussions are taking place at a time of intense and difficult political debate in Malawi in the aftermath of the disputed presidential elections.

“We sincerely hope and indeed expect the Malawi Government will do everything possible in the current situation to honour this reputation of being a peaceful country and to uphold constitutional principles in handling the opposition protests.

“We strongly believe that there is need for dialogue among all stakeholders beyond the ongoing court case. We believe this is the time for joint dialogue to address the underlying root causes for the evident dissatisfaction in large parts of the population,” said Schneider.

Schneider also said the country should focus on reducing high poverty levels which are soaring due to high population growth.

For over 50 years, Germany has been Malawi’s partner in the areas of health, education, finance and other key sectors of the economy.