Elections Postponed in Burundi

 

By Cathy Majtenyi

At a regional summit meeting in Kenya Friday, African leaders postponed¹ upcoming elections in Burundi and extended the life of the transitional government there.

Elections in Burundi, which were supposed to be held early next month, were postponed Friday at a summit of African leaders meeting in Nairobi.

An editor with the Presidential Press Service, James Mwambai, explains, saying "they said the reality on the ground cannot allow election[s] to take place," he said. "The elections cannot take place before 1 November 2004."

No date for elections was given.

The holding of elections, and the passing of a new constitution, which the summit said should be endorsed² before October 25 as an interim³ constitution until it can be put to a national referendum, follows the requirements of a peace deal that was signed in Tanzania four years ago.

The deal created a three-year transitional government that is to hand over power to an elected government later this year.

The officials said there was not enough time to set up the necessary preparations for an election by November 1.

Complicating⁴ the process has been opposition⁵ from a group of Tutsi political parties that had earlier refused to sign a power-sharing agreement included within Burundi's constitution.

The Tutsi parties argue that the constitution, finalized⁶ recently by mostly Hutu political parties and politicians, does not guarantee that Tutsis would continue to adequately exercise political power in the country.

Tutsis make up around 15 percent of Burundi's population, yet they dominate the army and political sphere. This imbalance was a major factor in the start of the civil war 11 years ago, which has claimed about 300,000 lives.

Several heads of state, along with vice-presidents, ministers, and other representatives attended Friday's summit.

Cathy Majtenyi for VOA News, Nairobi.

注释：
postpone 延期
Burundi 布隆迪
Nairobi 内罗毕，肯尼亚首都
interim 临时的
referendum 公民投票
Tanzania 坦桑尼亚
Tutsi 图西族
finalize 把……最后定下来
Hutu 胡图族
sphere 领域

 

1 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

2 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

4 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

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 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》