VOA常速英语2008年-Kenya Reconciliation Talks Hit Snag

By Scott Bobb
Nairobi
25 February 2008

In Kenya, government and opposition¹ officials have resumed talks on the country's political crisis. As VOA's Scott Bobb reports from Nairobi, the talks were suspended after several hours so the two sides could hold consultations² over what were called certain difficult items.

The Kenya reconciliation³ talks ended early Monday as both sides said they needed to consult with their respective leaders.

A negotiator for the government, Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula, told VOA the sticking points were centered on the details of a power-sharing agreement reached in principle last week.

"In broad terms we are dealing⁴ with issues concerning governance, period. The issue we are dealing with for the past one week is governance," said Wetangula. "That is a very touchy⁵ and tricky⁶ issue."

A member of the government team, Justice Minister Martha Karua, said the two sides had agreed to establish the posts of prime minister and two deputies. And she said they had agreed that the prime minister, who is expected to come from the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) would coordinate⁷ the government ministries⁸.

But Karua underscored that a number of points had not been agreed upon.

"There is no agreement of sharing of ministries equally between the government and the ODM. There is also no agreement that the prime minister should have a supervisory role," said Karua.

She said further that no agreement had been reached that any collapse⁹ of the proposed coalition¹⁰ government would be followed by new elections.

The opposition wants the prime minister to be head of government and have control over the ministries, powers currently held by the president. It also wants new elections if the proposed coalition collapses¹¹.

The crisis erupted in December after President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of an election which the opposition says was rigged. One thousand people were killed and several hundred thousand displaced by the violence that followed.

Nevertheless, both sides say the talks will continue. Opposition negotiator William Ruto said his side remains¹² optimistic.

"We have confidence in the management of the mediation¹³ by Kofi Annan and we believe that it will in a matter of days come to a conclusion that will be acceptable to the people of Kenya," said Ruto.

The talks began four weeks ago chaired by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan who asked the two sides to reach a deal in 15 days.

As the talks have dragged on, anxiety has risen among many Kenyans. The opposition says it will launch a campaign of civil disobedience Wednesday if agreement is not reached.

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 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 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。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 touchy   

adj.易怒的；棘手的

参考例句：

• Be careful what you say because he's touchy.你说话小心，因为他容易生气。
• He's a little touchy about his weight.他对自己的体重感到有点儿苦恼。

6 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

7 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

8 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

11 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

12 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。

13 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。