2006年VOA标准英语-DRC President's Allies Secure Top Posts in Parl

By Joe Bavier
Kinshasa
29 December 2006

Joseph Kabila (file photo)

A close adviser¹ to Congolese President Joseph Kabila has won the top leadership position in the Democratic Republic of Congo's newly elected parliament. Joe Bavier is in the capital, Kinshasa, and has more for VOA.

Vital Kamerhe, a former minister and secretary-general of President Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction² and Development, was elected president of the National Assembly by an overwhelming margin³.

Kamerhe said his victory showed he was not only the candidate of Kabila's Alliance of the Presidential Majority, but was supported by everyone.

The Alliance of the Presidential Majority won 332 of 500 seats in the legislative⁴ body in July parliamentary elections that were part of Congo's first democratic polls in more than 40 years.

Thirty-two candidates initially⁵ competed for seven National Assembly posts.

Pro-Kabila MPs took six of the posts, with the remaining position to be decided⁶ in a second round of voting.

The opposition⁷ said the majority coalition⁸ had changed parliamentary bylaws to give itself more control over key commissions, and should have left some leadership posts to the minority group.

But Kamerhe said he was just allowing democracy to run its course and promised to work with the opposition.

The new parliament replaces a body of appointed government supporters, rebels, and civil society members, which helped run Congo during the three-year transition period following the country's 1998-2003 war.

Kamerhe said the lawmakers will begin their work as soon as a prime minister is chosen and a new government is formed.

President Kabila was sworn in earlier this month, promising⁹ to unify¹⁰ the country divided during the six-year conflict that saw an estimated four million Congolese die, mainly from starvation and disease.

1 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

2 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

3 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

4 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

10 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。