VOA常速英语2008年-Southern African Leaders Meet on Zimbabwe

By Delia Robertson
Johannesburg
12 April 2008

Southern African leaders are meeting in the Zambian capital to discuss the political crisis in Zimbabwe following the country's failure to release the results of its presidential poll. The embattled Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe refused to attend the summit, but did meet with South African President Thabo Mbeki ahead of the conference. VOA's Delia Robertson reports from our southern Africa bureau in Johannesburg.

The extraordinary summit of southern Africa leaders was called by Zambian President Levy¹ Mwanawasa following the failure of Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission to release the result of the president poll, held two weeks ago.

Some observers say the delay has provoked a constitutional crisis, causing instability in Zimbabwe that threatens to spill over to the region.

But after an hour-long meeting with Mr. Mugabe in Harare before flying to Lusaka, Mr. Mbeki downplayed the seriousness of events in Zimbabwe, saying the Zambian leader had not billed the summit as a crisis session.

"All he [Mwanawasa] said to me was that he thought it was necessary that the region should meet to look at the electoral situation up to now and see whether it needs to say anything or do anything. And so I said fine, OK, I'm coming," he said.

The opposition² Movement for Democratic Change, which earlier said its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidential poll, now says Mr. Mugabe is in the process of staging a coup³. Secretary-General Tendai Biti says Zimbabwe's military is in charge.

"The military has basically taken over, so there are some people that are governing that in this way of saying, there is a constitutional coup d'etat that has taken place there, which is why this meeting is very critical," he said.

Mr. Mbeki was clearly anxious to avoid pronouncing on the outcome until the result is officially announced.

"We are waiting. Everybody, everybody is waiting for Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to announce all the results that are outstanding," he added.

The MDC has appealed to Zimbabwe's high court to force the commission to release the election results.  A ruling is expected on Monday.  If no presidential candidate wins a clear majority, the law requires a second round.

Analysts⁴ speaking ahead of the Lusaka meeting told VOA that even if regional leaders break with tradition and issue a public admonishment⁵ to Mr. Mugabe, none of the leaders, including Mr. Mbeki, has any real influence in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile speakers of southern African parliaments meeting in Capetown called on the regional leaders to use their influence to end the crisis.

The speakers from Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and South Africa urged the leaders to act speedily in the interests of peace and stability in Zimbabwe and the region.

1 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

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 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

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 admonishment   

n.警告

参考例句：

• Moreover, but also has some taunts and the admonishment sound. 另外，还有一些嘲讽和规劝的声音。 来自互联网
• He chains them together with the admonishment as for the first woman. 他把他们锁在一起想警告第一个女士那样警告了他们。 来自互联网