The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) on Friday withheld the remaining results for the May 21 tripartite elections in order to review and address some of the complaints that it has received.

Speaking during the tenth press briefing held at the main tally centre in Blantyre, MEC Chairperson, Justice Dr. Jane Ansa said the commission had received 147 complaints from presidential, parliamentary and local government elections.

She however assured the public that the commission’s legal team is handling the complaints and giving feedback to the complainants.

Mulanje, Nsanje and Mangochi are the districts that have registered more complaints.

National Elections System Trust (NEST) Executive Director Unandi Banda has applauded MEC for taking their time to scrutinize the complaints.

Banda said  such caution is relevant considering that the competition among the presidential candidates is very stiff.

Preliminary results released by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) show that DPP candidate President Peter Mutharika was leading with 40.49 percent followed by Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) at 35.44 percent.

According to MEC chairperson, Justice Jane Ansah, UTM candidate Saulos Chilima was behind on third position with 18.35 percent.