2006年VOA标准英语-Preval Alleges Fraud, Errors in Haiti Elec

By Amelia Shaw
Port-au-Prince
15 February 2006
 
watch Haiti Election report

Leading candidate Rene Preval says massive fraud or gross errors have been committed in Haiti's presidential election. It is Haiti's first election since former president Jean Bertrand Aristide was sent into exile following a violent uprising two years ago. UN officials are calling for calm after three days of protests demanding a final count.

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Rene Preval   
  

Rene Preval says he wants the the will of the Haiti people to be respected. During a news conference in Port-au-Prince he said, "We are concerned about the situation in the streets, where there has been violence."

Barricades¹ still block many streets in the capital city following Monday's demonstrations² in which tens of thousands of angry voters protested delays in election results. The protesters are angry that their candidate, Preval, has 49-percent of the votes with 90-percent of the ballots³ counted.

Many say they think election workers and the international community are trying to steal the elections because they do not want Preval to win.

He needs a simple majority of 50-percent to win the presidency⁴ outright⁵. Otherwise, he faces second place candidate Leslie Manigat in runoff elections next month. Manigat has only 12-percent of the vote.

International election observers have not reported serious irregularities.

But suspicion of election fraud spread through the political community as well. Third-place candidate Charles Baker⁶ and two election officials have separately made remarks to the press saying they suspect the voting irregularities, and want to launch an investigation⁷.

U.N. spokesman David Wimhurst says these allegations are inflammatory, and do not help to stabilize⁸ the tense situation. "I think they are stirring up trouble. People are making gratuitous⁹ claims that are unfounded, and of course the people who voted for the number one candidate are being agitated¹⁰, organized to go on these demonstrations and put up these roadblocks, and its causing chaos¹¹ in the city and preventing MINUSTAH (U.N. stabilization¹² force) from doing its work and the electoral machine from operating properly. Demonstrating is just slowing things down, it does not help at all," he said.

In New York, Security Council President John Bolton encouraged all parties to remain calm as the final results of the election are certified¹³. He said the Security Council strongly urges all parties to respect the results of the election and refrain from violence.

Monday, thousands of protesters invaded a hotel where U.N. workers and Haitian election officials had set up a media center to announce the results. Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, who was was staying at the hotel, appeared on his balcony and appealed to the crowd to remain calm. U.N. helicopters evacuated¹⁴ guests off the roof of the hotel. After jumping in the pool and running around the hotel, the protesters left peacefully. The hotel has since ordered the U.N. and election officials to close the media center, and vacate the premises¹⁵.

One person was reported killed during the demonstrations. Witnesses say U.N. troops fired into a crowd, killing¹⁶ one and allegedly wounding others. But U.N. officials deny this, saying the peacekeepers fired two warning shots in the air to disperse¹⁷ the crowd.

Preval was president of Haiti from 1996 to 2001, and is seen as a close ally of exiled president Aristide. Many people who voted for Preval say he is Arisitide's "twin", and expect that with Preval as president, Aristide will return from his exile in South Africa. Analysts¹⁸ say Preval was greatly influenced by Aristide during his first term. Preval says he intends to be his own man.

Preval met late Monday with the top U.N. officials and ambassadors from the United States, France, Canada and Brazil.

Brazilian Ambassador Paolo Cordeiro de Andrade Pinto said in a statement afterward¹⁹ that it is very important to reassure²⁰ the Haitian people that their votes will be counted correctly.

He says, we are confident that the vote count is transparent²¹, and we ask the Haitian people, who were a remarkable²² example to the world on February 7, to stay calm. He adds, the international community is here to oversee²³ this process and intend to help peace and stability return to this country.

Officials say they hope to release final results within the next 24 hours.

1 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

6 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

7 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。

8 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

9 gratuitous   

adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的

参考例句：

• His criticism is quite gratuitous.他的批评完全没有根据。
• There's too much crime and gratuitous violence on TV.电视里充斥着犯罪和无端的暴力。

10 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

11 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

12 Stabilization   

稳定化

参考例句：

• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。
• With the higher olefins, stabilization of the energetic intermediates occurs more easily. 在较高的烯烃情况下，高能的中间物稳定作用更易出现。

13 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

14 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

15 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

16 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

17 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

18 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

19 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

20 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

21 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

22 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

23 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。