2006年VOA标准英语-Chad Opposition Rejects Deby Victory

By Franz Wild
Abidjan
15 May 2006

Opposition¹ groups in Chad are rejecting election results that show President Idriss Deby won a third elected five-year term. They say the vote was characterized by fraud and a low turnout.

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President Idriss Deby casting his vote   
  

Opposition members and civil society groups are dismissing official results released on Sunday showing that Chad's President Idriss Deby won 77.5 percent of the vote.

After opposition leaders boycotted² the poll on May 3, the only other candidates were two government ministers and two members of parties who had signed an agreement to support Mr. Deby's candidacy.

Throughout the election process, Mr. Deby's opponents protested that the vote was marred³ by various forms of fraud, including underage and multiple voting. They also insist voter turnout was far lower than the 61 percent announced by Chad's Independent National Election Commission.

Journalists watching the vote say turnout appeared low, and there were cases of voters who cast ballots⁴ at several different polling stations. Only a limited number of foreign election observers were present for the vote.

Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Chad Marc Wall says his embassy officials could not confirm the official turnout figures. "We observed what we term as a moderate turnout, possibly because of the security situation and the fact that the opposition groups were not participating in the elections," he said.

President of the union of civil society groups, Diride Kemneloum, says the elections did not follow proper procedures. She says, it is not even important whether the election results were good or bad. She says that the very basis of the elections was flawed and not even worth having. She says that only a national dialogue will get Chad out of its current crisis.

Government and ruling party officials deny the accusations⁵ of fraud. They say turnout appeared to be low, because unlike previous elections when most voters showed up together when polls opened, this time they voted in clusters at different times.

Three weeks before the elections, hundreds of people died in rebel attacks on the capital, N'Djamena. The elections went ahead despite calls from opposition groups to postpone⁶ them. Opposition and civil society groups are calling for a national dialogue to resolve what they call "a national crisis".

Chad started exporting oil three years ago, but it remains⁷ one of the poorest countries in the world, according to the U.N. Human Development Index.

Civil society leader Kemneloum says that the international community must do its part, too. She says that everyone needs to pressure the government for talks. She says the international community cannot wait until the country is down and out. She says that now is the time to intervene.

Mr. Deby has ruled Chad since he overthrew⁸ Hissane Habre in 1990. He was voted president in 1996 and 2001. A referendum last year, which the opposition also boycotted, removed term limits.

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 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。

3 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。

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 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。

6 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

7 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。

8 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。