VOA标准英语2008年-Kenyan Opposition Leader Rejects Bilateral Talk

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
08 January 2008

Even after days of intense international pressure, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his political rival, opposition¹ leader Raila Odinga, have yet to engage in dialogue to resolve a post-election dispute that has ignited ethnic² tensions and is threatening to divide the country. At the same time, President Kibaki has announced several members of a new Cabinet, despite previous efforts to form a national unity³ government with opposition leader Odinga. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu in Nairobi reports that there is enormous pressure on both men to meet face-to-face and find a political solution that can quickly calm the nation.

Several days of shuttle diplomacy⁴ conducted by influential⁵ figures such as South African Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer have failed to convince the opposition leader Raila Odinga to meet with President Kibaki.

On Tuesday, Mr. Odinga flatly rejected an offer by the Kenyan leader to meet at his official residence on Friday, saying Mr. Kibaki was using the planned meeting as a public relations gimmick⁶.

The head of the African Union, Ghanaian President John Kufuor, is also expected to lead mediation⁷ efforts in the coming days.

A local political commentator⁸ and publisher Barrack Muluka says getting Mr. Kibaki, an ethnic Kikuyu, and Mr. Odinga, an ethnic Luo to the negotiating table would be a significant first step to ending the countrywide killing⁹ spree that has largely pitted ethnic Kikuyus against ethnic Luos and other tribes, who support the opposition.

The violence killed as many as 600 people and displaced 255,000 others since December 30.

"If they engage constructively¹⁰, then the starting point would be how do we work together and beyond working together in the short term, how do we ensure that, in the future, this kind of situation does not happen again," said Muluka. "In the long term, they must talk about the possibility of working together in a transitional kind of arrangement that prepares the ground for the future."

Kenyans voted peacefully in record numbers in parliamentary and presidential elections on December 27. But the opposition says the final tally¹¹, giving Mr. Kibaki a narrow win over Raila Odinga, was rigged. The opposition has demanded the president's resignation and fresh elections to be held within the next three months.

International observers and allies, including the United States, agree that the vote count, conducted by Kenya's electoral commission, lacked credibility. The Kibaki government has resisted calls for an investigation¹², insisting that complaints about the election must first go through the courts.

A former Kenyan parliament member Waihenya Kihoro says the country's judiciary is widely perceived as being biased¹³ toward the Kibaki government and would not be able to deliver an uncontested verdict.

Kihoro says he believes the opposition demand of holding fresh elections quickly is also unrealistic because the much-criticized Electoral Commission of Kenya would have to be replaced an independent body and the process is likely to be time-consuming.

"At the end of the day, if the problem has arisen because of flawed election, the remedy is a re-run of the elections, a power-sharing arrangement in the interim," said Kihoro. "The outcome of the elections was not acceptable not only to the opposition, but also to a majority of Kenyans because now, even people who voted for Kibaki feel very unhappy about what has happened."

A sociology professor at University of Nairobi, Paul Mbatia, predicts much of the violence and ethnic bloodletting will stop, if the two Kenyan leaders, who were once political allies, begin pursuing genuine reconciliation¹⁴ and reject tribalism.

"The moment they see these leaders together talking, that will have solved half of the problem," said Mbatia. "As long as they talk and as long as they can convince Kenyans that something is being worked out by the two parties, Kenyans will wait. But as long as they are just communicating through the media, the divide remains¹⁵ very wide and making it very clear that we are nowhere near a consensus¹⁶."

The United States says Kenya's political crisis will not be resolved simply by - in the words of Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer - dishing out political seats, but by addressing the root causes that triggered the unrest.

1 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。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

4 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

5 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

6 gimmick   

n.(为引人注意而搞的)小革新，小发明

参考例句：

• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。
• It is just a public relations gimmick.这只不过是一种公关伎俩。

7 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

8 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

9 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。

10 constructively   

ad.有益的，积极的

参考例句：

• Collecting, by occupying spare time so constructively, makes a person contented, with no time for boredom. 如此富有意义地利用业余时间来进行收藏，会使人怡然自得，无暇烦恼。
• The HKSAR will continue to participate constructively in these activities. 香港会继续积极参与这些活动。

11 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。

12 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。

13 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

14 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？