2006年VOA标准英语-DRC President Names First Post-War Prime Minist

By Joe Bavier
Kinshasa
31 December 2006

The Democratic Republic of Congo's President Joseph Kabila has named life-long opposition¹ leader Antoine Gizenga as the country's new prime minister in a presidential decree read on state-owned television late Saturday. Joe Bavier is in the capital, Kinshasa, and has more for VOA.

The selection of Antoine Gizenga as prime minister had been expected ever since Joseph Kabila was sworn in earlier this month (12/6/06) as the Congo's first democratically elected president in more than 40 years.

Mr. Gizenga - the 81-year-old leader of the Unified² Lumumbist Party, known as PALU - finished third in the first round of presidential elections in July. Before the runoff election in October, he signed an agreement with Kabila's political coalition³ in which he promised his support in exchange for a guarantee that the eventual⁴ prime minister would emerge from his party.

Shortly after the presidential decree on Saturday, Godefroid Mayobo, Mr. Gizenga's spokesman, said that PALU was extremely happy with his selection.

Mr. Gizenga served as deputy to Patrice Lumumba, Congo's first prime minister following its independence from Belgium in June 1960.

Following a coup⁵ led by Mobutu Sese Seko, Gizenga headed a rebel government of Lumumba's supporters in Kisangani, in the country's northeast. But he was eventually arrested and then driven into exile for nearly three decades.

The newly named prime minister has not served in an official government post since 1960.

This year's elections in Congo were meant to draw a line under a 1998-2003 war blamed for the deaths of an estimated four million Congolese, most from starvation and disease.

1 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。

2 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

3 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。

4 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

5 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。