With about a third of the results of the Zimbabwean parliamentary result announced, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change is reaffirming its popularity in urban areas.

The results of 39 of the 120 seats at stake in the Zimbabwean parliamentary election held Thursday are now known.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has won 31 of those seats mostly in its urban strongholds of Harare and Bulawayo.

Zanu-PF which lost all Harare seats in 2000 to the MDC has won one back in Harare South, a constituency that had its boundaries re-drawn to include an army barracks.

A nephew of President Robert Mugabe, Patrick Zhuwawo, won the new constituency of Manyame for Zanu-PF, which also includes an army barracks.

Of the five rural results known, Zanu-PF retained four and wrestled one from the MDC. The majority of the 120 seats at stake are in rural areas, where Zanu-PF is perceived to be stronger.

In the last election in 2000, the then less than a year-old MDC won 57 seats, Zanu-PF got 62 and one seat went to a smaller party.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is announcing the results as they trickle in and the final result should be known by the end of the day.