VOA标准英语2010年-Ivory Coast Elections Could be Delayed

Controversy¹ over the voter list in Ivory Coast is threatening to once again push back long-delayed presidential elections.  Election-related protests erupted around Ivory Coast this past week.

Ivorian investigators² have confirmed evidence of "fraud" in the voter list for the country's upcoming presidential elections.

President Laurent Gbagbo accused the Independent Electoral Commission in January of approving a voter list that contained the names of almost a half million foreigners.  The accusations³ were followed by calls for electoral commission head, Robert Mambé, to resign.

Announcing the investigators' findings Friday, spokesman Mohamed Diakité said the consequences of this alleged⁴ fraud were "extremely serious."

He says despite opposition⁵ from electoral commission members, its central committee and President Gbagbo, electoral commission head Robert Mambé gave the unauthorized names to the technicians who then added them to most of the lists.  He says this finding brings the legitimacy⁶ of the electoral list into question.

Mambé, an opposition member, said he does not plan to resign and the voter list in question should never have been released.

He says he will continue to fight to finish what he knew from the beginning would be a difficult mission.  He says he did not commit fraud nor did he instruct others to commit fraud.

The vote is an attempt to find a lasting⁷ political solution to nearly a decade of internal conflict in the once stable West African nation, but voter registration⁸ issues have prompted Ivory Coast to push back the election several times since President Laurent Gbagbo's mandate⁹ ran out in 2005.

Questions of nationality were at the heart of the civil war in 2002 and remain sensitive in Ivory Coast, which has a large immigrant population.  Observers say recent political stalemate demonstrates just how far the country is from resolving the questions of "Who is Ivorian?" and "Who can vote?"

Last week, mounting frustration¹⁰ erupted into violent protests outside courthouses around the country, first in Katiola and Divo, where one police officer was killed, and finally in Man, near the Liberian border, on Friday.  Thousands of people there stormed the courthouse, accusing the magistrate¹¹ of trying to strike them from the voter list.

The former rebel faction¹² in the North, the New Forces, had released a statement earlier denouncing what they called attempts to remove northerners from the provisional voter rolls, by questioning their nationality without proof.  They cautioned against the "unpredictable consequences these attempts to strip people of their nationality could provoke."

Justice Minister Mamadou Koné has not only condemned¹³ the outbreaks of violence, but also called for local magistrates¹⁴ to follow proper legal protocol¹⁵ when seeking to remove people from the voter rolls.  State security forces prevented him from reading his statement on national television.

Opposition members have accused Mr. Gbagbo's party of pressuring courts to remove people from the voter list and of stalling elections to remain in power.  The opposition continues to call for the poll to happen in March, as planned.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast has called for calm and continues to urge the country to organize elections as soon as possible.

The deadline for the publication of the definitive¹⁶ voter list has been pushed back to February 14, and observers say recent political disputes make holding an election in March near impossible.

 

1 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

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 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。

7 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

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 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

10 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

11 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

12 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

13 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

14 magistrates   

地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to come up before the magistrates 在地方法院出庭
• He was summoned to appear before the magistrates. 他被传唤在地方法院出庭。

15 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

16 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。