2007年VOA标准英语-Ousted Liberian Speaker Fights Removal

By Kari Barber
Dakar
19 January 2007

Ousted¹ Liberian House Speaker Edwin Snowe is fighting back, saying he remains² in charge after being dismissed for ignoring rules and meddling³ in foreign diplomacy⁴.  Snowe said opponents did not follow proper guidelines when they voted him out.  A spokesman for Snowe says the speaker plans to take legal action against his accusers.  Kari Barber reports from our West Africa bureau in Dakar.

Edwin Snowe tells reporters that he is still in power at a press conference in Monrovia

Edwin Snowe was removed as Liberia's house speaker Thursday by a majority vote during a meeting in a suburb of Liberia's capital. 

Parliament members cited Snowe's meeting with Taiwanese officials last year, which they say threatened to undermine Liberia's relationship with China.  They also said Snowe had broken travel rules and was unfit to be speaker.

Snowe has refused the dismissal and called for an investigation⁵ saying the vote should have taken place in the house of representatives building.

Those who voted him out say the parliament building is under repair, which is why they had to meet in another location.

He also says he suspects members accepted bribes⁶ and believes President Ellen Johson-Sirleaf, with whom he has had numerous disputes, is behind his ousting⁷. 

Director of press for the house, James Jensen, says Snowe is preparing to take his complaints to the Supreme⁸ Court next week.

"He will take this issue to the Supreme Court, and I am sure some legal minds in our country are now preparing legal documents to file that process," he said.

Jensen says he thinks opponents held the meeting away from the capital, because they were trying to make it more difficult for members who might support Snowe to attend. 

Journalist and political analyst⁹ David Targbe says if the controversy¹⁰ drags on for long, it could stall the country's recovery after decades of civil war.

"This will be a serious problem of the government and this will also interfere¹¹ with the regular functions of the legislature because there are a lot of things that the legislature has to do, most especially in the second year of the government," he said.

Snowe was a close ally of ex-President Charles Taylor who is in The Hague awaiting trial for charges of war crimes.

1 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。

2 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。

3 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

4 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

7 ousting   

驱逐( oust的现在分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• The resulting financial chaos led to the ousting of Bristol-Myers' s boss. 随后引发的财政混乱导致了百时美施贵宝的总裁下台。
• The ousting of the president has drawn widespread criticism across Latin America and the wider world. 洪都拉斯总统被驱逐时间引起拉丁美洲甚至全世界的广泛批评。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

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 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

11 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。