VOA常速英语2008年-Zimbabwe in Spotlight at UN-AU Meeting

By Margaret Besheer
United Nations
16 April 2008

The United States, Britain and France have expressed their growing concern about the failure of Zimbabwe's election commission to release the results of the March 29 presidential election. The comments were made at a high-level meeting of the U.N. Security Council and African Union leaders in New York, where the disputed election threatened to overshadow other crises on the African continent. From U.N. headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown led off the criticism, saying no one believes that Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe won the vote.

"No one thinks having seen the results at polling stations that President Mugabe has won this election. A stolen election would not be a democratic election at all. As the Secretary-General [Ban Ki-moon] has said, the credibility of the democratic process depends on there being a legitimate¹ government," he said.

Mr. Brown told the high-level meeting that the credibility of the democratic process in Africa depends on the legitimacy² of the government in Harare, and that the leaders gathered in New York must send a single, clear message that they stand behind democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe.

The United States U.N. Ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, said the Zimbabwean people overwhelmingly voted for change, and he expressed concern about post-election violence.

"We are gravely concerned about the escalating³ politically-motivated violence perpetrated by security forces and ruling party militias⁴ that target opposition⁵ supporters in rural areas. The government and its supporters must desist immediately from violence and intimidation⁶, act with restraint, respect human rights, and allow the electoral process to continue unfettered," he said.

France's representative, Rama Yade, who is the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights, told the meeting that the people of Zimbabwe must not be deprived of their victory of democracy.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon repeated his call for the speedy release of election results.

"Absent a transparent⁷ solution to this impasse⁸, the situation could deteriorate⁹ further with serious implications for the people of Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean authorities and the countries of the region have insisted that these matters are for the region to resolve but the international community continues to watch and wait for decisive action," he said.

The secretary-general added that if there is a second round of elections, they must be conducted in a fair and transparent manner and in the presence of international observers. He also welcomed the efforts of the Southern African Development Community to help resolve the crisis, and said the United Nations stands ready to assist the bloc¹⁰.

The situation in Zimbabwe was conspicuously¹¹ absent from the remarks of the African representatives at the meeting.

South Africa, which holds the rotating presidency¹² of the Security Council this month, has resisted the idea of taking up the matter in the council, because it says it is being dealt with by the Southern African Development Community.

1 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

2 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。

3 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

4 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

5 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。

6 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。

7 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

8 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

9 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

10 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

11 conspicuously   

ad.明显地，惹人注目地

参考例句：

• France remained a conspicuously uneasy country. 法国依然是个明显不太平的国家。
• She figured conspicuously in the public debate on the issue. 她在该问题的公开辩论中很引人注目。

12 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。