VOA标准英语2011--Eastern Congolese Opposition Join Forces to Protest Election

Eastern Congolese Opposition¹ Join Forces to Protest Election

 

The situation in The Democratic Republic of Congo remains² unsettled following a refusal by the opposition to accept the re-election of the country's president. Competing opposition parties in the region say they are joining forces to support the main opposition candidate's claim that he, in fact, won the election.

Five goats were slaughtered³ in downtown Goma Saturday in honor of President Joseph Kabila's re-election victory.

During the campaign, Kabila was the only candidate with the money to widely distribute tee-shirts, baseball hats, umbrellas, ladies dresses and other paraphernalia⁴ - so the center of town is decked out in blue, white and yellow and the slogan, "100 percent for the president." And as they barbeque the goats on the streets near the marketplace, a few supporters say they are drinking "Ka-beer-a."

Paul Katakala is the chef in charge of the feast. He says Kabila is a moderate leader who ended, or at least slowed, the conflict in this eastern province.

Five goats were slaughtered for a feast on the streets in Goma, the capital of the troubled North Kivu province in DRC in honor of the re-election of President Joseph Kabila.

Katakala says he expects as many as 1,500 people to fill this marketplace celebration out of love for their president, who he calls "the man who united Congo."

On the edges of the celebration, a young man in a tie beckons⁵ reporters away from the crowd. He says the celebration is for a criminal, who robbed the rightful Congolese president, Etienne Tshisekedi of his post. Tshisekedi says he considers himself president by the people's will although Congo's electoral commission has declared Kabila re-elected with nearly 49-percent of the vote. It says Tshisekedi won 32 percent of ballots⁶ cast.

Fiston Kheta heads the regional youth league associated with the United Forces for Change, the party of Kengo wa Dondo, the candidate who came in fourth in the presidential race with 4.35 percent of the vote.

Supporters of oppositon leader Etienne Tshisekedi outside a campaign office in Goma and say he won the election.

Kheta says his guy lost, but he says many opposition leaders now back Tshisekedi. He says he wants international observers to declare the election a fraud before it is too late to prevent what he calls a "bloodbath." There have been scattered⁷ reports of violence since Friday's announcement that Kabila had won the election.

At the Goma campaign office for Etienne Tshisekedi, supporters are annoyed at passing busses tooting their horns in support of Kabila, but they don't react. Another regional youth league president, Alidor Mbuyamba says if the international community does not recognize Tshisekedi as the winner, there will be protests.

The roomful of young men applaud when he says that Etienne Tshisekedi was democratically elected, and he will form a government.

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 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。

3 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 paraphernalia   

n.装备；随身用品

参考例句：

• Can you move all your paraphernalia out of the way?你可以把所有的随身物品移开吗？
• All my fishing paraphernalia is in the car.我的鱼具都在汽车里。

5 beckons   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He sent his ships wherever profit beckons. 他将船队派往赢利的那些地方。 来自辞典例句
• I believe history beckons again. 我认为现在历史又在召唤了。 来自辞典例句

6 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。