2006年VOA标准英语-International Working Group on Ivory Coast

By Joe Bavier
Abidjan 2-329769
16 January 2006

A U.N.-created international working group charged with paving the way for elections in war-divided Ivory Coast later this year has recommended dissolving the nation's parliament.

The proposal was criticized by supporters of the president whose delegates dominate the assembly.

In a statement read at the end of its meeting Sunday, the International Working Group said the mandate¹ of Ivory Coast's National Assembly, which expired in December, should not be extended.

Nigeria's Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adeniji is co-president of the group, which is composed of representatives of the international community, lender institutions, such as the World Bank, and the United Nations.

"It has come to an end. We didn't decide that," he said. "The mandate has come to an end. The resolution of the Security Council drew our attention to that fact. Therefore, we should see what we can do to ensure that things go on normally."

Presidential and parliamentary elections had been due to be held in the fall of 2005. But the country's warring factions² failed to implement³ a nearly three-year-old peace process, and the United Nations said it deemed elections impossible. 

Laurent Gbagbo  
  
The same Security Council resolution that created the international panel also extended the mandate of President Laurent Gbagbo for 12 months. However, Adeniji says there was neither the political consensus⁴ nor the legal grounds to offer such an extension to the National Assembly.

Ivory Coast's Constitutional Council had previously⁵ said the National Assembly should continue its work.

The parliamentary bloc⁶ of the presidents own party, which, along with its allies, holds a majority in the National Assembly, has condemned⁷ the suggestion to dissolve the body.

The bloc, headed by first lady Simone Gbagbo, said any such move would constitute a violation⁸ of national sovereignty.

Even before the working group's recommendation was made public more than a 100 angry supporters of the president attempted to march to the heavily guarded hotel where the meeting was taking place, before being turned back by security forces.

"The U.N. must go," said one demonstrator. "We don't need them. We're ready to do whatever is necessary to make them go."

Several vehicles belonging to the U.N. peacekeeping mission were attacked by supporters of Mr. Gbagbo in different parts of the commercial capital, Abidjan, Sunday. Around 10.000 U.N. peacekeepers and U.N.-mandated French soldiers are in Ivory Coast.

The country has been divided into a rebel-held north and government controlled south since civil war broke out in late 2002.

1 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

2 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

3 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

4 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

7 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

8 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。