VOA常速英语2008年-Zimbabwe's Mugabe Lashes Out at Presidential Ch

By Peta Thornycroft
Southern Africa
22 February 2008

President Robert Mugabe has spoken out for the first time on the new presidential challenger, former finance minister Simba Makoni. Peta Thornycroft reports that Mr. Mugabe has accused Mr. Makoni of being a "political prostitute."

President Robert Mugabe was speaking to state journalists on his 84th birthday. He said Mr. Makoni's method of seeking election as the next president on March 29 was what he called "absolutely disgraceful."

He said Mr. Makoni had "neither a political party nor the support of the people." The president went on to say he didn't believe at first that Mr. Makoni would behave in the way he had and accused him of being naive¹ in believing that people would support him.

President Mugabe said he compared Mr. Makoni with a prostitute and that a prostitute could also have stood for election but would have done better.

Most political analysts² believe that Mr. Makoni has provided President Mugabe his strongest challenge for reelection since he came to power at independence in 1980 as some powerful ZANU-PF areas in central Zimbabwe are understood to be backing the challenger.

The opposition³ Movement for Democratic Change struggled to attract ZANU-PF defectors since it was formed in late 1999.

The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper on Friday reported that Mr. Makoni's advisers⁴ are trying to persuade MDC founding president Morgan Tsvangirai to enter into an agreement with him.

This could not be independently confirmed Friday.

The other MDC leader, Arthur Mutambara did not put forward his name as a presidential candidate on nomination⁵ day last Friday.

All Mutambara's candidates standing⁶ for the legislature are in some kind of electoral pact⁷ with Mr. Makoni, who left his position as finance minister in 2002 after President Mugabe refused to devalue the Zimbabwe dollar.

Now the local currency is largely worthless and the central bank prints money to service Zimbabwe's domestic debt and to buy foreign currency on the black market to settle some foreign bills.

Zimbabwe has been suffering from the highest inflation rate in the world. The value of Zimbabwe dollar has slumped⁸ in value by about 50 percent in the last week alone.

Meanwhile, preparations for the election are behind schedule, and many candidates have not been able to get access to maps of their voting districts.

Zimbabwe Election Support Network director Rindai Chipfunde Vava has received a letter from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission banning her organization from providing voter education. For the first time Zimbabweans are voting in four national polls simultaneously⁹ on March 29.

1 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

2 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。

3 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。

4 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

5 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

8 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

9 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。