Unofficial results for council byelection in Mtiya ward in Zomba show that the main opposition, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has won the poll, beating the party traditional political archrival, the ruling Malawi Congress Party with just a handful 60 votes.

The unofficial results show that the DPP candidate, Maxwell Finias has come in first with 505 votes while the MCP candidate Humphrey Labeti has come in second with 457 votes.

United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Natasha Thewe got 40 votes, while Umodzi Party candidate Tereza Kambale has amassed 8 votes, and UTM's Mwalala Mica has 66 votes.

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson, Chifundo Kachale said official results will be released by 9am on Wednesday.

Kachale acknowledged that there was partial low-turnout of voters attributing some of the factors to the new electoral laws which include closing of voting at 4pm.

He said closing earlier is important as it enables the commission to start vote counting in good time.

Kachale, however, said the commission sent back some electorates who came to vote but were not registered in the ward's voters register.

Mtiya ward became vacant following the death of Councilor Ramsey Kajosolo in June this year.