2006年VOA标准英语-Gabon's Ruling Party Wins Big Majority, But Opp

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
22 December 2006

Gabon's ruling party has won a big majority in a newly elected parliament, but opposition¹ parties are making a more noticeable appearance. Voter apathy² however was high in last week's election. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from our regional bureau in Dakar.

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Members of a polling station count the votes out of the ballot boxes in Libreville, 17 Dec 2006

Final results from most races in last Sunday's election give the party of long-time President Omar Bongo Ondimba 80 seats.

But independents and small parties close to the Gabonese Democratic Party push the ruling coalition's total close to 100 seats in the 120 member parliament.

Three parties each won a handful of races, including the Union of the Gabonese People, which boycotted⁵ the previous legislative⁶ poll in 2001. Its leader, a failed but feisty presidential candidate, Pierre Mamboundou, won a seat in his southwestern stronghold of Ndende.

Several seats are still up for grabs as organizational problems led to the postponement⁷ of the vote in a few constituencies. Voting should be completed this coming Sunday.

While announcing the results Thursday night, authorities did not give a clear indication of voter turnout. According to journalists making their own tallies⁸, it was below 30 percent in most cities.

An analyst⁹ with London-based Control Risks research group, Chris Melville, predicted both general disinterest for this election in Gabon and a sweeping¹⁰ victory for the ruling party, known by its French acronym¹¹ PDG.

"Politics and elections tend not to be determined¹² by ideological¹³ beliefs or particular developmental issues or questions of national strategy. They tend primarily to be opportunities for the redistribution of resources, money and development," said Melville. "So I guess, at the root, you could say that is the major issue and the ability of any particular party to deliver resources at their local level. Frankly¹⁴, the PDG is the only party that has the experience and capability¹⁵ and financial resources to be able to make that sort of offer."

President Bongo said the election was important to ensure he can push through development goals as he enters his fourth decade in power. Oil profits have been dwindling¹⁶, while economic gaps between a small elite¹⁷ and growing underclass have been widening.

Melville says President Bongo also wanted peaceful elections following 2005 presidential elections marred¹⁸ by street violence and accusations¹⁹ of fraud.

"The main issue in these elections from Omar Bongo's point of view was the attempt to rebuild the credibility of the democratic process in Gabon," added Melville. "After the presidential election in 2005, there was unusual amount of international scrutiny²⁰ after some allegations of fraud from various candidates."

In this election, the vice-prime minister, who ran for an opposition party and lost against the ruling party's prime minister for a seat in Libreville, complained of irregularities.

But the interior minister said it was the first time since the start of multi-party politics in 1990 that there were no calls for an opposition boycott⁴ or general denouncing of the results.

Mr. Bongo has recently said he plans to run for a new seven-year presidential term in 2012.

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 apathy   

n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡

参考例句：

• He was sunk in apathy after his failure.他失败后心恢意冷。
• She heard the story with apathy.她听了这个故事无动于衷。

3 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

4 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

5 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

6 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

7 postponement   

n.推迟

参考例句：

• He compounded with his creditors for a postponement of payment. 他与债权人达成协议延期付款。
• Rain caused the postponement of several race-meetings. 几次赛马大会因雨延期。

8 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

10 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

11 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

12 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。

13 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

14 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

15 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

16 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

17 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。

18 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

19 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

20 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。