2007年VOA标准英语-Cameroon Ruling Party Headed For Big Election V

By Naomi Schwarz
Dakar
24 July 2007

Provisional results in Cameroon's combined legislative¹ and municipal elections show a landslide² victory for President Paul Biya's ruling party. Opposition³ parties have alleged⁴ massive fraud and say they fear Mr. Biya will use his two-thirds majority in the assembly to eliminate the constitutional two-term limit. Naomi Schwarz has more from VOA's regional bureau in Dakar.

After the close of voting in legislative and municipal elections, officials count votes in a school in Cameroon, 22 July 2007

Opposition parties say they are going to challenge in court the results of the legislative and municipal elections, held on Sunday. They say the election was marred⁵ by massive fraud, including tampering⁶ with results, allowing some people to vote multiple times, and impeding⁷ others from voting at all.

Adamou Ndam Njoya is the national president of the Cameroonian Democratic Union, one of the country's main opposition parties.

"I think that we have to contest and so bring out the different problems," he said.  "And we know that maybe the constitutional court will judge and appreciate, but I think that we shall create the sort of tradition so that this will no longer happen."

The National Election Observer Commission released a statement saying there were some minor⁸ irregularities, but they were not enough to change the outcome. But a coordinator⁹ for a group of election observers from African non-governmental organizations told reporters that fraud has been reported, including at least one case of ballot¹⁰ box stuffing.  The coordinator said the majority of people are voting without identity cards.

Provisional results, released late on Monday, give an overwhelming victory to Mr. Biya's ruling party, the Democratic Rally of the Cameroonian People. The party increased its majority in both the national assembly and in the municipalities.

The two main opposition parties lost seats in the National Assembly, with the Social Democratic Front down from 22 to 14 seats, and Njoya's party down to just four.  Mr. Biya's party appears to have won at least 152 seats in the Assembly.

Local journalist Bayen Soné says people are frustrated¹¹ but have become accustomed to problematic elections.

"It has been problematic elections since 1992, when we had the first multiparty elections in Cameroon," he explained.  "It has always gotten worse. Every election has been worse than the previous one, because the ruling party, which the people understand and believe is unpopular, only makes gains in every election."

The opposition's court challenge will have to wait until official results are certified¹², which is not expected for about two weeks.

If the provisional results stand, the ruling party's 152 seats in the legislature will give Mr. Biya the two-thirds majority he needs to amend¹³ the constitution. Opposition parties have alleged that Mr. Biya intends to use this majority to eliminate the constitutional two-term limit for the president, allowing him to continue standing¹⁴ for election indefinitely.

Mr. Biya has been president for 25 years. Oil-rich Cameroon is consistently ranked by corruption¹⁶ watchdog, Transparency International, as one of the world's most corrupt¹⁵ nations, and Mr. Biya has been accused by critics of abusing human rights and the democratic process.

1 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。

2 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

3 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。

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

5 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

6 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

7 impeding   

a.(尤指坏事)即将发生的，临近的

参考例句：

• Fallen rock is impeding the progress of rescue workers. 坠落的石头阻滞了救援人员的救援进程。
• Is there sufficient room for the kiosk and kiosk traffic without impeding other user traffic? 该环境下是否有足够的空间来摆放信息亭？信息亭是否会妨碍交通或者行走？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

9 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

10 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

11 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。

13 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

14 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

15 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

16 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。