2006年VOA标准英语-Kenyan Government Accused of Splitting Oppositi

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
05 December 2006

Police in Kenya's capital have dispersed¹ demonstrators protesting government support of a faction² within the country's main opposition³ party, a move observers say effectively splits the opposition before next year's elections. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.

 
Kenyan protestors run from tear gas as riot police officers charge protesters in Nairobi, 5 Dec 2006 
Until about two weeks ago, the Kenya Africa National Union was headed by Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of the country's first president and leader of the official opposition.

But in a party meeting last month, delegates replaced Kenyatta and other top officials with Nicholas Biwott, a minister in the former government, and his faction.

Kenyatta and the other officials were to have met the registrar-general to persuade her not to recognize Biwott as party leader.

But the government canceled the meeting at the last minute and dispersed a crowd of supporters gathered at a Nairobi park.

A researcher with the Institute for Policy Analysis and Research, Tiberius Barasa, tells VOA the Kenyatta-Biwott split has been long in the making.

Barasa says he believes the government played a major role in the split and the registrar-general broke the law by registering Biwott and his team far before the legal deadline.

He explains some of the advantages he thinks will go to the current government.

"Of course, to weaken the opposition and also to garner⁴ support for the next year's elections, and also to lobby for the passing of bills in parliament," he said. "You need a majority to pass bills in Parliament, and some of the bills that the government would want to pass would probably be rejected by the opposition."

"So they want to increase the number of supporters so that they can pass bills in Parliament and also in preparation for the next year's general elections," he added.

 
Uhuru Kenyatta (14 0ct 2002)
Barasa says he thinks Kenyatta was likely ousted⁵ from his position as party president because of his support for the Orange Democratic Movement, a collection of officials from various parties that came together more than a year ago and is critical of many government policies.

The government denies having a role in the KANU split.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua told reporters late Monday that political party disputes should not be resolved in government offices.

In his words, internal problems should be sorted out in political party boardrooms and not in the streets or through intimidation⁶.

Mutua blasted Kenyatta and the others for recent demonstrations⁷, saying that taking over government offices and refusing to leave is tantamount to threatening officials and placing them under duress⁸.

Kenya's parliament speaker has ruled that Kenyatta remains⁹ official opposition leader for the time being.

Biwott is a former minister with the previous government of Daniel arap Moi. He has been accused of involvement in a number of scandals, including land-grabbing and the murder of former foreign affairs minister Robert Ouko, allegations he has denied.

1 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

2 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。

3 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。

4 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

5 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

6 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

7 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

8 duress   

n.胁迫

参考例句：

• He claimed that he signed the confession under duress.他说他是被迫在认罪书上签字的。
• These unequal treaties were made under duress.这些不平等条约是在强迫下签订的。

9 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。