UN Official Says Iraqi Elections Must Be Credible

UN Official Says Iraqi Elections Must Be Credible¹

Kirk Troy

A U.N. official said Friday holding general elections in Iraq is important, but cast doubt on whether such elections could be held before the United States is scheduled to hand over sovereignty in June.

Special U.N. representative Lakhdar Brahimi spoke² to reporters in Baghdad Friday on the election issue, emphasizing that time and preparation were more important than setting a deadline.

"What I think everybody has agreed to is that elections are terribly important. That holding reasonably credible elections is also extremely important and that the date of the elections have got to be consistent with this requirement."

Earlier in the day, Mr. Brahimi's spokesman said there is not enough time to organize an election in Iraq before the U.S.-led coalition³ hands over power to Iraqis at the end of June.

The U.N. team spoke after Thursday's meeting with Iraq's leading Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in the holy city of Najaf. The Shi'ite cleric opposes the U.S. plan to hand power to a provisional government picked not in general elections but by regional caucuses⁴.

U.N. Representative Brahimi says the ayatollah wants the sovereignty of the Iraqi people to return early.

"I think that all Iraqis would like sovereignty to return earlier rather than later and that Ayatollah Sistani shares this view with everybody else. It's another issue of organizing elections. We are now working on what are the requirements, the minimum requirements."

Mr. Brahimi also raised doubt about the U.S. plan to select the transitional government through regional meetings. In his word, the United States and the Iraqi Governing Council, which prepared the power-transfer plan, need to improve it considerably⁵.

This is the first U.N. mission to operate in Iraq since a car bomb destroyed its headquarters in Baghdad last August, prompting the world body to withdraw from the country.

The team is expected to report its findings to the U.N. secretary-general next week.

 

注释：

representative [7repri5zentEtiv] n. 代表

Lakhdar Brahimi  拉赫达尔·卜拉希米，联合国派驻伊拉克特使。

terribly [5teribli] adv. 十分，极

be consistent with  符合，一致

provisional [prE5viVEnl] adj. 临时的

ayatollah [aIE5tRlE] n.（伊斯兰）阿亚图拉（对什叶派领袖的称呼）。

transitional [trAn5ziVEn] adj. 过渡期的

considerably [kEn5sIdErEbElI] adv. 相当大地，相当多地

headquarters [5hed7kwC:tEz] n. 总部，指挥部

prompt [prCmpt] vt 提示，促使

1 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

5 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。