2007年VOA标准英语-Mali's Amadou Toumani Toure Heads to Second Ter

By Nico Colombant
Bamako, Mali
15 May 2007
 

The incumbent¹ has been declared the winner in recent elections in one of the world's poorest countries, Mali.  Saturday, the country's constitutional court declared Amadou Toumani Toure the winner with over 71 percent of the vote. But as in several other countries in Africa where there have been recent elections, there is growing apathy² for the democratic process, and for what government can deliver in terms of economic progress.  VOA's Nico Colombant reports from our West Africa bureau.

On voting day,  was a gentleman. He let a woman vote before him, before he cast his own ballot³. At the only polling station where there was much commotion⁴, President Toure finally got to perform his duty.

The result was a foregone conclusion. The man who bills himself as the soldier of democracy won easily.

Elsewhere on voting day on April 29th, there was some confusion about how to vote. There was also a general sense of apathy, in this the fourth democratic election since the end of military rule.

Turnout was less than 40 percent.

Many said there was no doubt President Toure, a former military leader back in power since 2002, would win again.

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita

But during the campaign, a former ally and rival candidate, Assembly Speaker Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, attracted large crowds. He called for an end to Mr. Toure's broad-based politics and the start of effective reforms for the common man.

His message seemed to strike a chord with many unemployed⁵ men, including Ibrahima Fadiga. He says no one has enough money to buy food, electricity, water. He says all the government promises are false.

The opposition⁶ pulled out all the stops to build on frustration⁷ also shared by this man, Ali Babily. He said he was ashamed Mali is 175th out of 178 countries in the human development index, even after war-torn Sierra Leone and Liberia. He said people had hope in the new government, but that now everyone is disappointed.

It seems there are several speeds to Mali's economy. Overall, growth is above five percent.

Peaceful elections attract hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to build new roads, schools and hospitals. But little gets built, and unemployment is still a grim reality, affecting more than half the adult population.

Many young people face an uncertain future of idleness and disease. It seems Mali, like many parts of West Africa, is slowly consolidating⁸ democracy but still stagnant⁹ in under-development.

1 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

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 commotion   

n.骚动，动乱

参考例句：

• They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵，引起了一阵骚乱。
• Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间，整条街道变得一片混乱。

5 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

6 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。

7 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

8 consolidating   

v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并

参考例句：

• These measures are meant for consolidating the system of basic medical care. 这些举措旨在夯实基层医疗体系，让老百姓看大病不必出远门。 来自互联网
• We are consolidating the Chinese and English versions of our homepage. 我们将为您提供中英文版本一起的主页。 来自互联网

9 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。