Immediately after the falsified elections, the MDC had declared that it would not bother with going into parliament and would not challenge the results in court. The strategy since then seems to have changed since then, with the opposition taking its seats today.

Zimbabwe’s leading opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has taken up its seats in parliament, which puts an end to speculation that the MDC would boycott parliament to protest an election it alleges President Robert Mugabe’s party won fraudulently.

The 41 Movement for Democratic Change candidates who won in last month’s election were sworn in as Members of Parliament. They took their oath of allegiance to the Republic of Zimbabwe along with 78 ruling ZANU-PF members and one independent.

Also sworn in were the 30 non-constituent members appointed by President Robert Mugabe and the council of chiefs, bringing to 150 the number of members in the house.

The Zimbabwean public was not sure whether the Movement for Democratic Change would take the seats it won because the party has rejected the election result. The party is taking what it describes as the most blatant cases of vote rigging to the electoral court.

MDC spokesperson for foreign affairs Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga told VOA that going into parliament is by no means endorsing the result of the poll. She said the people of Zimbabwe would not benefit by the party boycotting parliament. As she put it, “it is part of a strategy. We have this little democratic space and we can use it to push for more.”

Ms. Misihairabwi-Mushonga said going to parliament will not affect the question of the legitimacy of the government of President Robert Mugabe. She said 41 people in parliament cannot legitimize a government that has not been legitimized by the electorate.

The strategy is actually pretty simple, but a fight that needs to be fought hard. The MDC is only taking to court the counts from the most profane offenses so that it will have a better chance of succeeding, even in a court controlled by the Mugabe government. Some in the MDC have said that they should easily have one a vast majority of seats, some putting the figure above 70 and even 90.

At this point, however, they have realized that silent protest is not going to work and they will completely lose the country should they sit back and hope things are handed to them. Zanu-PF has 108 seats, eight above the 2/3 majority needed to change the constitution. By challenging the districts with the most wrongdoing, the MDC is probably hoping to overturn at least nine seats and spare themselves the real threat of never even being able to run again.