2007年VOA标准英语-Zimbabwe Ruling Party Leaders Meet on Elections

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
30 March 2007

Leaders of Zimbabwe's ruling party met Friday to decide whether President Robert Mugabe should stand for reelection next year. There are reports that some party leaders believe the 83-year-old president should retire but Mr. Mugabe has been buoyed² by an expression of support from southern African leaders. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our Southern Africa Bureau in Johannesburg.

The meeting by the Central Committee of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party followed a call Thursday by southern African leaders in Tanzania for Western governments to lift all sanctions against Zimbabwe.

 
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, right, arrives at the extraordinary meeting of the Southern African Development Community in Dar es Salaam³, 29 Mar¹ 2007 

Zimbabwe's state-owned media hailed the statement as a victory for Mr. Mugabe, who has come under international criticism in recent weeks for the arrest and beating of dozens of opposition⁴ leaders.

The secretary-general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Tendai Biti, said the African leaders ignored the real crisis in Zimbabwe, which he said is over unemployment, food shortages, corruption⁵ and political repression⁶.

"There was a game of ping-pong, or table tennis. The loser there was the Zimbabwean people. And I think that everyone is oblivious⁷ to the need for a democratic, peaceful settlement to Zimbabwe," he said.

 
Jakaya Kikwete (file photo)

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who chaired Thursday's summit, acknowledged the complexity⁸ of Zimbabwe's crisis.

"What the government is perceiving as the problem, what the media are saying, what the international community is saying, all those are the issues that translate into what we call the difficult political situation in Zimbabwe," he said.

But he added that dialogue is the only solution.

 
South African President Thabo Mbeki leaves a closed emergency meeting in Dar es Salaam, 29 Mar 2007
South African President Thabo Mbeki was asked to negotiate talks between ZANU-PF and the opposition. MDC's Biti said his group was open to such talks but only under certain conditions.

"We are prepared to dialogue with ZANU-PF but we are not prepared to dialogue with ZANU-PF as long as Mugabe is part of the equation. Mugabe belongs to the past; he belongs to history," he said.

Zimbabwe is due to hold elections next year. Biti said his faction⁹ of the MDC would participate but only after a new constitution is drafted.

Political tensions have been rising in Zimbabwe due to high unemployment, food shortages and rising inflation. A series of gasoline bomb attacks have added to the anxieties.

The Zimbabwean government accuses the opposition of responsibility for the attacks, which opposition leaders deny.

1 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

2 buoyed   

v.使浮起( buoy的过去式和过去分词 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神

参考例句：

• Buoyed by their win yesterday the team feel confident of further success. 在昨天胜利的鼓舞下，该队有信心再次获胜。
• His encouragement buoyed her up during that difficult period. 他的鼓励使她在那段困难时期恢复了乐观的情绪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 salaam   

n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼

参考例句：

• And the people were so very friendly:full of huge beaming smiles,calling out "hello" and "salaam".这里的人民都很友好，灿然微笑着和我打招呼，说“哈罗”和“萨拉姆”。
• Salaam is a Muslim form of salutation.额手礼是穆斯林的问候方式。

4 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。

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

7 oblivious   

adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的

参考例句：

• Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness.这次病后，妈妈变得特别健忘。
• He was quite oblivious of the danger.他完全没有察觉到危险。

8 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

9 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。