VOA标准英语2008年-Observers Say Georgia's Election Was Fair

By Peter Fedynsky
Tbilisi
06 January 2008

Election results in Saturday's Georgian presidential election continue to trickle¹ in, with the interim² count giving incumbent³ President Mikhail Saakashvili a narrow victory. International observers say the election was Georgia's first genuinely competitive presidential contest, which enabled Georgians to express their political choice. But as VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports from Tbilisi, the opposition⁴ is crying foul⁵.

Hundreds of international election observers descended⁶ on Georgia from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. The OSCE coordinator⁷, U.S. Congressman⁸ Alcee Hastings says he has never seen so many monitors in the hundreds of elections he has observed.

Speaking on behalf of the observer mission, Congressman Hastings said the Georgian presidential vote was, in essence, consistent with most OSCE and Council of Europe standards for democratic elections.

"Democracy took a triumphant⁹ step because of the demonstrative competitiveness of this campaign," said Alcee Hastings. "I perceive this election as a viable¹⁰ expression of free choice of the Georgian people, but the future holds immense challenges."

Congressman Hastings and other monitors noted¹¹ allegations of intimidation¹² against public sector¹³ employees, diversion of state resources and media coverage¹⁴ in favor of the incumbent, vote buying, and other violations¹⁵.

The observer delegation¹⁶ also noted a high degree of mistrust and polarization in Georgian society. The monitors issued a call to both sides, asking all political players to respect the legitimacy¹⁷ of the election and the government to institute immediate¹⁸ electoral reforms in time for upcoming parliamentary elections.

Journalists asked if the violations would impact the final election result, but Congressman Hastings said it would be inappropriate to comment, because the vote count was still in progress during the Sunday afternoon news conference.

That count was less than 50 percent complete more than 24 hours after polls closed, prompting opposition complaints of deliberate foot-dragging by election officials.

In the absence of a final tally¹⁹, exit polls from the previous night indicating a victory by President Saakashvili gave his supporters grounds to celebrate victory, and opponents a reason to protest what they believe to be a stolen election.

At least 5,000 opposition members gathered in downtown Tbilisi to protest an election for which there was yet no official result.

Among them was Tamaz Khachidze, a regional political coordinator, who said there was too great a disparity between the exit polls and estimates by the opposition.

Khachidze told VOA an opposition representative was present during vote counts in all electoral precincts. According to the activist²⁰, opposition candidates won 63 percent of the vote, give or take a few percent.

Exit polls gave Mr. Saakashvili 54 percent, which is enough to win the election without facing a runoff. The polls show Levan Gachechiladze in second place with 28 percent.

In remarks to VOA, Mr. Gachechiladze categorically rejected the conclusion by international observers that Sunday's election was democratic. He says the finding will further divide Georgia into two opposite poles.

"What the observers are doing right now, they are making two poluses [poles]," said Levan Gachechiladze. "One is the Saakashvili polus, and the second is all of Georgia. And it is not good for Georgian democracy. It will allow Saakashvili to continue his authoritarian²¹ regime, and maybe we [will] get a dictator very soon."

Mr. Saakashvili called the January 5 presidential election after riot police in early November used force to put down mass protests against his government. The Georgian leader said the early vote would give his country a chance to heal wounds caused by the November events.

But deep mistrust is evident on all sides of Georgian society, which celebrates Christmas on Monday. More opposition protests are expected the day after.

1 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

2 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

3 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

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 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

6 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

7 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？

8 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

9 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

10 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

13 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

14 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

15 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

16 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

17 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

18 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

19 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

20 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

21 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。