Some election candidates of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Monday defied party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, and filed for nomination in the senatorial elections scheduled for next month.

By the close of the nomination court on Monday, MDC candidates in Mashonaland West Province and capital Harare had filed their papers.

Tsvangirai, fearing defeat, had called for a boycott of the polls, saying they were a waste of resources.

The MDC's national executive council voted 33-31 in favor of participating in the election two weeks ago, but Tsvangirai, as the party's president, overruled it and said the party would not be participating in what he described as a "ZANU-PF (the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front) project."

The MDC is divided into two camps, with most senior members of the party ganging up against Tsvangirai in favor of taking part in the poll.

"We cannot follow one man's footsteps. We follow what the majority wants. The majority wants us to participate," said Canciwell Nziramasanga, a MDC candidate for Mashonaland West province.

The opposition has lost three elections amid allegations of vote-rigging and intimidation since it was formed in 1999. In march, it won just 41 of the 120 elected seats in parliament's 150- seat lower house. The rest 30 lawmakers were appointed by President Robert Mugabe.

Next month's elections will decide 50 of the senate's 66 seats, composed of five from each of the 10 provinces. Ten additional seats are reserved for tribal chiefs, and Mugabe will appoint six other representatives from vulnerable groups.

Source: Xinhua