Malawi's former President Peter Mutharika has been declared the winner of last week's elections, in a huge comeback for the 85-year-old.
Official results show that he won 57% of the vote, compared to the 33% of President Lazarus Chakwera, 70.
Chakwera, a pastor before entering politics, conceded defeat ahead of the final result being declared, phoning Mutharika to congratulate him on his historic win.
Mutharika, a former professor of law, served as president from 2014 to 2020, when he lost to Chakwera by a wide margin.
He inherits an economy that is in deep crisis, with a severe shortage of fuel and foreign currency in the poor southern African state.
The official inflation rate is close to 30%, with a frozen chicken in a supermarket in the capital, Lilongwe, costing about $20 (£15), in a nation where most people live on $2 a day or less.
The election commission said it took the full eight days it was allowed to announce the result because it wanted to check everything carefully and address the complaints first.
Chakwera won the rerun by a huge margin the following year.
In his concession speech, Chakwera said that even though he had concerns about irregularities and anomalies, he was accepting the outcome out of respect for the majority of Malawians' collective will to have a change of government.
The anomalies do not necessarily mean that the election result projecting Professor Mutharika as the winner is not credible or a reflection of the will of the people, he said.
His speech sparked celebrations among Mutharika's supporters in Lilongwe, with hundreds singing and dancing on the streets.
This result can be seen more as a rejection of Chakwera than a victory for Mutharika.
Mutharika's campaign mantra - a return to proven leadership - resonated with Malawian voters.
However, Mutharika will have to show that he can once again tackle inflation as he did in his first term.
