VOA标准英语2009年-Aziz Completes Military-to-Civilian Transi

A Former military leader, General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, has won Mauritania's presidential election.
　
Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, left, speaks to the press shortly after being declared the victor in the previous day's presidential election, in central Nouakchott, 19 July 2009

This time last year, Aziz was Chief of Staff to Mauritania's first freely-elected leader. But when President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi moved to sack Aziz last August, the general responded by taking power in a military coup¹ that brought international sanctions and suspension from the African Union.

He refused to restore civilian² leaders who he said were corrupt³ and weak on terrorism, because he said that would not be in the best interest of the Mauritanian people. Instead, he changed the constitution to allow military reservists to run for political office and resigned his commission to contest Saturday's presidential vote.

By winning in the first round on more than half the ballots⁴ cast, Aziz has made a swift transition from putschist to president.

The 54-year-old joined Mauritania's armed forces in 1977 with training in Morocco before setting up an elite⁵ presidential guard in Nouakchott. He was promoted to colonel after putting down an attempted coup in 2003 and an insurrection in 2004. But he helped lead a 2005 coup that brought to power his cousin, National Security Director Ely Ould Mohamed Vall.

Vall led the transition to civilian rule that elected President Abdallahi in 2007. Aziz was made a general and worked closely with the president as personal envoy⁶ to the King of Morocco and the commander of forces against militants⁷ who killed four French tourists.

But Aziz was also close to prominent businessmen and ruling-party parliamentarians - a block of whom defected to the opposition⁸ last August, leaving Abdallahi unable to govern. That is when the president moved to fire the general, and the general toppled the president.

Abdallahi was placed under house arrest, and Aziz took power as the president of an 11-member High Council of State, which said it was determined⁹ to hold new elections "as soon as possible."

Aziz ran a populist campaign, calling himself the "Candidate of the Poor" and promising¹⁰ to improve access to health care while lowering food and fuel prices. To the cheers of his supporters, he vowed¹¹ to build more jails to imprison¹² his political opponents, who he said were corrupt.

Sunday's victory speech was far more conciliatory.

He says he considers the other candidates in the election like all other Mauritanian citizens who have their duties and their rights. He says it is time to fight together against corruption¹³, but that must be by legal means.

Aziz says the priority now should be focusing on health, education, and development. He says he would like to do this with the help of all Mauritanians to build a strong democracy and a modern nation with a system of social justice.

As for complaints from opposition candidates that widespread vote fraud amounts to what they call an "electoral coup d'etat," Aziz says they should take their complaints to the constitutional council.

Aziz says everyone knows this was a free and fair vote and will help to get the country out of its political crisis. Through this vote, he says Mauritania became a democratic country and the constitution will return to working democratically.

1 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

2 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。

3 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

4 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》

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

7 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

8 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。

9 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

10 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

11 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

12 imprison   

vt.监禁，关押，限制，束缚

参考例句：

• The effect of this one is going to imprison you for life.而这件事的影响力则会让你被终身监禁。
• Dutch colonial authorities imprisoned him for his part in the independence movement.荷兰殖民当局因他参加独立运动而把他关押了起来。

13 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。