VOA常速英语2008年-Zimbabwe Opposition Claims Victory in President

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
02 April 2008

In Zimbabwe, the opposition¹ says it defeated President Robert Mugabe and his party in last Saturday's presidential and parliamentary elections.  But the ruling party has rejected the claim saying it was not based on official results.  VOA's Scott Bobb reports from our Southern Africa Bureau in Johannesburg.

The Secretary-General of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Tendai Biti, said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidential election with more than 50 percent (50.3) of the vote, while President Robert Mugabe received 43 percent.

Biti said the figures were based on official results posted at voting stations around the country.

"We on our part as these figures reflect, maintain that we have won this election, the presidential election, outright² without the need for the runoff," he said.  "So we wait anxiously whether the Zimbabwe Election Commission will confirm that which the media that they control, the state media, has already begun to prepare the people of Zimbabwe for, namely a runoff in 21 days."

Biti said he believed a runoff was not necessary, but indicated his party would accept one.

The state-owned Herald³ newspaper says the pattern of returns indicated that no candidate would win the presidential election outright, thus forcing a runoff.

Officials of Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF quickly denied the opposition's claim, calling it wishful and saying the opposition should have waited for the official results.

The Zimbabwe Election Commission, charged with compiling the official results, has yet to announce any returns from the presidential election.

The Commission has announced most of the parliamentary election results, which indicate that the two factions⁴ of the opposition MDC have won control of the national assembly.

The MDC said its tallies⁵ showed that voter turnout was low, only 40 percent of the nearly six million registered voters.

Observers said the balloting⁶ Saturday was orderly and peaceful.  Some observers called the vote credible⁷.  But others criticized what they said were irregularities in the voter registration⁸ list, the demarcation of voting districts, and a lack of voter education.

The delay in announcing the results led to rumors⁹ and speculation¹⁰.

Inside sources were quoted as saying that talks were underway between the opposition and civilian¹¹ and military officials over whether Mr. Mugabe would accept the results and the repercussions¹² of his decision.  But the opposition and the ruling party Tuesday denied these reports.

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 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

3 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

4 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

5 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》

6 balloting   

v.（使）投票表决( ballot的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Clark took a commanding leading in the early balloting. 在最初投票时，克拉克遥遥领先。 来自辞典例句
• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句

7 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

8 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

9 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

11 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

12 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》