VOA常速英语2007年-New Laws Published for Zimbabwe Elections

By Peta Thornycroft
26 November 2007

In Zimbabwe, new electoral laws have been published that are to be used in national polls due early next year. Peta Thornycroft reports for VOA the proposed laws emerged after six months of negotiations¹ between the ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition² Movement for Democratic Change.

Political analysts⁴ in Zimbabwe say the proposed election laws are a "significant" improvement over the old legislation.

The proposed new laws were produced after more than 40 meetings since April between ZANU-PF and both factions⁵ of the Movement for Democratic Change.

Harare political scientist Eldred Masungure said the new laws provide a better electoral framework, but free and fair elections will only take place if President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party honor them.

Musungure, who is also director of the Institute of Mass Public Opinion, said, "The taste of the pudding will be in the eating, and precedent⁶ teaches us we cannot invest much confidence in ZANU-PF".

A major change to the electoral law is that the polls can no longer be run by members of the security forces.

In addition, political parties are entitled to an electronic version of the voters' rolls, which are based on Zimbabweans identity numbers. It is considered the only way to check for double voting.

In the 2002 presidential election, the founding leader of the M.D.C., Morgan Tsvangirai, failed repeatedly to gain access to the electronic roll in an effort to prove his allegations of vote rigging.

The proposal also says state-owned media must provide equal editorial time to all contesting parties. And they may no longer ignore opposition parties or refuse their advertisements. The two daily newspapers are both state-controlled as are all four radio stations and the country's only television station.

It would also be much easier for voters to register as they will not have to provide a dossier of documents, including service bills. Voter registration⁷ will be ongoing⁸ and only close the day before candidates are formally nominated.

The new law allows for foreign election observers, but the justice minister may ban some groups. The European Union was prevented from observing the last presidential polls in 2002.

Masungure and other analysts fear Zimbabwe's civil society activists⁹ and the opposition will not be up to the task of monitoring electoral law abuse. He says civil-rights groups are divided and have lost the will to act in the national interest while pursuing their own agendas, and the opposition lacks the leadership to mount significant or coherent monitoring.

Another analyst³ studying the new electoral bill said although there were improvements these will not be of any use if the elections are held as scheduled in March. Civic¹⁰ groups and the opposition say there is not enough time to disseminate¹¹ information on the new laws. They want the vote postponed¹² until later next year.

Analysts also say President Thabo Mbeki must ensure that civic groups and the M.D.C. in particular are able to operate normally without fear of arrest before the polls.

The negotiators that finalized¹³ the new election rules are working to draft a new constitution, which is to include further reform to the electoral process.

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

2 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。

3 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。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

6 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

7 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

11 disseminate   

v.散布；传播

参考例句：

• We should disseminate science and promote the scientific spirit.普及科学知识，弘扬科学精神。
• We sincerely welcome all countries to disseminate their languages in China.我们真诚地欢迎世界各国来华推广本国语言。

12 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。

13 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》