2007年VOA标准英语-Sierra Leone Ready for Presidential Runoffs

By Kari Barber
Freetown
07 September 2007

Sierra Leone's election officials say all preparations have been completed and the country is set for the presidential runoffs Saturday. Vice¹ President Solomon Berewa will face opposition² candidate Ernest Koroma in the second round of the nation's first presidential election since the withdrawal³ of U.N. troops in 2005. Kari Barber reports for VOA from Freetown.

National Electoral Commission spokeswoman Miatta French says all voting materials have arrived at voting centers around the country. She says there will be slight procedural changes from the first round.

"The inking instead of the forefinger⁴ is going to be done on the little finger this time, but most of the other procedures are the same," she said.

Finger prints are used to identify voters.

Also, in this round provisional results from the polling stations will be distributed to political parties as soon as they are available.

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A statue in front of the Sierra Leone People's Party headquarters wears a "Solo B" t-shirt, standing for candidate Vice President Solomon Berewa

Saturday's runoff election pits Vice President Solomon Berewa against opposition leader Ernest Bai Koroma. Corruption⁶ and high unemployment were the key issues in the largely peaceful pre-election campaign.

Chris Fomonyoh with the National Democratic Institute is coordinating⁷ an international team of election monitors. He says letting the parties know what the early results are could be a double-edged sword, either easing tensions or inciting⁸ unrest.

"The availability of this information in the public domain⁹ would mean that things may move very quickly in terms of what the broad trends are, how the two candidates and parties have performed and who is going to win the runoff," he said.

In the last round, journalists themselves collected vote counts from polling stations around the country and published their tallies¹⁰.

Fomunyoh says this provided a good system to prepare the voters for the official results. He says the critical point in the elections when violence could break out, will be the announcement of the winner.

"If the election commission meets its part of the bargain, and if the Sierra Leonean people meet their part of the bargain, then the parties and the candidates would have a civic¹¹ responsibility to accept the outcome," he added.

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APC followers put stickers on their car to show their support with for candidate Ernest Koroma

The first round saw little violence, but tensions heated up in the second round as Vice President Berewa's Sierra Leone People's Party supporters clashed with Koroma's All People's Congress followers in several districts.

Sallieu Camara with civil society organization Network Movement for Justice and Development says the new president will face enormous challenges and will likely have to work without the international assistance Sierra Leone has been receiving since 2002.

"We cannot guarantee a continuity of this kind of support from the international community," said Camara. "So the new president will not actually be enjoying the kind of support that the outgoing government has been enjoying."

Analysts say public expectations are high for the new president, and the winner may need to

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 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。

3 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 forefinger   

n.食指

参考例句：

• He pinched the leaf between his thumb and forefinger.他将叶子捏在拇指和食指之间。
• He held it between the tips of his thumb and forefinger.他用他大拇指和食指尖拿着它。

5 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。

6 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。

7 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

8 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

9 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

10 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

12 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。