2007年VOA标准英语-Rallies Wrap Up Before Sunday's Senegal Electio

By Naomi Schwarz
Dakar
23 February 2007

Rallies have ended in Senegal ahead of the presidential election on Sunday.  Broken alliances, accusations¹ and street fights have marked an election campaign in which octogenarian President Abdoulaye Wade² faces 14 rivals.  The campaign also highlighted the important role religious leaders play in Senegal's politics.  From Dakar, Naomi Schwarz  has this report for VOA on the last day of campaigning.

 
A young girl sports a Wade poster-hat at an end-of-campaign rally 
Supporters of President Wade chanted not his name, but that of the spiritual leader of the Muslim Mouride brotherhood³.  One Wade supporter says his allegiance to the president stems in large part from his strong connection to the Mourides.

"We support Wade for many reasons. First, he is a Mouride. He believes in Cheikh Amadou Bamba, our spiritual leader," he said.

The Mourides are a Sufi Muslim brotherhood founded in Senegal in the early 1900s.  Millions of Senegalese claim allegiance to them.

Several days ago, supporters of Mr. Wade were accused of disrupting a rally for a former protégé of the president, Idrissa Seck, who is now a rival for the presidency⁴.

 
Supporters drum for opposition⁵ candidate Idrissa Seck at the opening of the campaig 
Seck's campaign team blamed the attack on followers⁶ of Cheikh Bethio Thioune, a Mouride leader who on Friday sat on center stage at Mr. Wade's rally.  Thioune denied any involvement in the violence at the Seck rally, but did not shy away from saying he was strongly in favor of Mr. Wade.

A spokesman for the president, Abdou Aziz Sow, says Mr. Wade is not relying on the Mourides for re-election.

Sow says President Wade was elected in 2000 with the support of all the Senegalese people, including Christians⁷, Animists, and Muslims of all the brotherhoods⁸.

Senegal is more than ninety percent Muslim, but has always prided itself on religious tolerance⁹.

 
Prime Minister Macky Sall (right) sits next to muslim leader Cheikh Bethiou Thioune at a Wade rally
The country is also cited as a model democracy in West Africa. International observers were impressed in 2000 when then-President Abdou Diouf, a member of the Socialist¹⁰ Party that had ruled since independence, stepped aside peacefully after losing the election to Mr. Wade.

Babou Biram Faye, spokesman for current Socialist Party candidate Ousmane Tanor Dieng, says that this year, the Socialists¹¹ expect the reverse to happen. 

Faye says Tanor is the president's main rival in Sunday's election, although local journalists have tended to focus on the rivalry¹² between Mr. Wade and Seck, who was jailed last year as part of a corruption¹³ probe. 

Faye says the Socialist Party reflects the will of the Senegalese people.

He says Socialists remain the majority party, as they were in the past. He adds that in 2000, the Socialists lost to a coalition¹⁴ of parties and not to any single party.

On Friday, supporters across the city, like these at Mr. Wade's rally, cheered for their candidates.  There are 15 contenders for the presidency in Sunday's election.

If no one candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff is scheduled to take place between the top two finishers on March 11.

1 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。

2 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

3 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 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。

6 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

7 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

8 brotherhoods   

兄弟关系( brotherhood的名词复数 )； （总称）同行； （宗教性的）兄弟会； 同业公会

参考例句：

• Clubs became more like brotherhoods for the jobless and fans would do anything for them. 俱乐部变得更像是失业者协会，球迷愿意为其做任何事情。

9 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

10 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

11 socialists   

社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The socialists saw themselves as true heirs of the Enlightenment. 社会主义者认为自己是启蒙运动的真正继承者。
• The Socialists junked dogma when they came to office in 1982. 社会党人1982年上台执政后，就把其政治信条弃之不顾。

12 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

13 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

14 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。