VOA标准英语 Russia: Opposition Charges Election Fraud in Future

Sunday's mayoral election in Sochi, Russia, host of the 2014 Winter Olympics, has resulted in charges of fraud against the Kremlin favorite who is reported winning the contest in a crushing landslide¹.

In an election seen as a test of President Dmitri Medvedev's commitment to democratic reforms, Kremlin-backed candidate and acting² Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhamov has been declared winner of the contest with just under 77 percent of the vote.
　
Boris Nemtsov of the anti-Kremlin Solidarity³ Movement

Running a distant second is Boris Nemtsov of the anti-Kremlin Solidarity Movement with 13.6 percent, and Communist Yuri Dzaganiya with less than seven percent of the vote. The combined vote for three other candidates was less than three percent. The municipal electoral commission says turnout approached 44 percent.

But exit polls conducted by the Nemtsov campaign show him taking 35 percent of the vote, with Pakhamov winning only 46 percent and falling short of the 50 percent barrier needed to avoid a runoff.

Nemtsov told VOA the establishment also denied opposition⁴ campaigns access to the media to answer his opponents.

Nemtsov says it was impossible to respond to charges that he was a Korean spy, that he destroyed the Nizhny Novgorod region [where he served as governor in the 1990's], that he is a villain⁵, engages in corruption⁶, etc. He refers to the authorities as cowardly and accuses them of totally blocking all media access. In addition, Nemtsov says government special services were 100 percent engaged in the electoral process, detaining his family members, and intimidating⁷ supporters.

The candidate says authorities also seized his campaign literature, searched printing houses and followed him and members of his staff. Last month, unidentified assailants threw chemicals in Nemtsov's face, though he was not seriously hurt. He says he now plans to challenge the official result in court. If it is not overturned, Anatoly Pakhamov will be inaugurated in May.

The apparent winner says Sochi voters expressed faith in his campaign platform, which should now be carried out.

Pakhamov says a competent administrative⁸ team must now be assembled, because it will need to prepare the city to host the 22nd Winter Olympic Games.

Moscow has slashed⁹ Sochi's Olympic construction budget because of the global economic crisis and lack of contractor¹⁰ bids. Nonetheless, the mayor will still have billions of dollars to manage, which will likely give him considerable political influence.

Nemtsov says whatever happens, the Solidarity Movement showing in the Sochi election indicates it is Russia's second-most-popular political force, and he says it is the first sign of a head-on struggle against the power structure of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

 

1 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

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 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

8 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

9 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。