2006年VOA标准英语-Haiti Election Date Set

By Amelia Shaw
Port-au-Prince
09 January 2006

Haitian officials have announced Monday a new date for national elections. The troubled country has been battling violence and insecurity, as it struggles to prepare for the vote. The announcement comes just two days after the United Nation's top military commander was found dead in his hotel room.

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This is the fifth time that Haiti has attempted to organize a date for national elections.

According to a presidential decree, the first round of voting will be held on February 7, and a runoff will be held, if needed, on March 19. The new government is to take office by March 29.

The vote was formerly¹ to be held January 8, but in late December, officials postponed² elections for the fourth time due to logistical problems. Haitian election officials said that national identity cards had not been fully³ distributed, and there were not enough polling centers in rural areas.

U.N. ambassador to Haiti Juan Valdez has welcomed the new date, and he said the U.N. would not accept that the date be postponed again.

 
A Brazilian UN peacekeeper chats with a teenager while on patrol at the volatile⁴ neighborhood of Bel-Air in Port-au-Prince
  
The U.N. has been criticized by Haitian officials for the repeated election delays. They say the U.N. and the Organization of American States have not done enough to help the country prepare.

The Haitian population is also critical of the apparent failure of U.N. troops to provide security in the crime-ridden capital, Port-au-Prince. Kidnappings have skyrocketed, generating millions-of-dollars in ransom⁵ for the gangs who control the slums in downtown Port-au-Prince. Haitian national police estimate that 1,900 people were kidnapped between March and December of 2005.

The capital was largely shut down Monday, after a general strike was called by the chairman of the Chamber⁶ of Commerce, Reginald Boulos. Boulos says he called the strike to protest the rash of kidnappings, and urge U.N. troops, known locally as MINUSTAH, to do more to provide security.

"I think the role of MINUSTAH was to bring peace and security - to bring security back, and help the government to carry elections. Elections cannot take place in such an unsecure environment. So, therefore, we think there are enough troops in this country, 7,400 international troops. There is enough know-how⁷ and technical expertise⁸ in MINUSTAH to basically get in with the minimum casualty in the civilian⁹ society, and get rid of the gangs, disarm¹⁰ the gangs," said Mr. Boulos.

The U.N. mission is still trying to regroup after the death of its top military commander, General Urano Bacellar. Mr. Bacellar was found dead in his hotel room on Saturday morning in what one senior U.N. official has called "a self-inflicted gunshot wound." So far, the U.N. has not confirmed the death as a suicide, and has launched an investigation¹¹.

The U.N. began its peacekeeping operation in Haiti in June of 2004, just three months after then President Jean Bertrand Aristide was forced into exile, following a violent uprising. The February 7 poll would be the first democratic election since Mr. Aristide was forced from power.

1 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

2 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

5 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

6 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

7 know-how   

n.知识；技术；诀窍

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the know-how to run a farm.他没有经营农场的专业知识。
• I don't have much know-how about engines.发动机方面的技术知识我知之甚少。

8 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

9 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

10 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。