VOA标准英语2009年-Ivory Coast Moves Closer to Elections With

By Anne Look
Dakar
07 October 2009

Ivory Coast's electoral commission has officially delivered the provisional voter list to President Laurent Gbagbo, bringing the country a step closer to its long-delayed presidential elections, now scheduled for November.

 
Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, addresses the 64th session of UN General Assembly, (File Photo - 25 Sep 2009)
 
With less than two months before the presidential poll, the Ivorian prime minister has handed the much-anticipated provisional voter list over to President Laurent Gbagbo. The publication of the voter list is an important milestone¹ as the country struggles to make a November 29 poll date.

The vote, which has been postponed² several times since 2005, is an attempt to find a lasting³ political solution to nearly a decade of internal conflict in the once stable West African nation. When the country missed August and September deadlines for publishing the provisional voter list, many feared those setbacks would once again delay the vote.

But as he accepted the provisional voter database this week, President Gbagbo remained determined⁴ and optimistic, though he did not insist, as he has in the past, on a November 29 poll date.

The president says the elections must take place at least in 2009. He says the country must move forward, and the elections must happen this year. It can be done, he says, and it should be done for the good of Ivory Coast and West Africa. He says we should do it and we are going to do it. He says we are moving forward slowly and with care. It is like walking on eggs without breaking them, he says, but that is what is necessary and that is what they will continue to do.

Political parties now have a period of at least 30 days to review the provisional voter list, which will have to be agreed upon before ballots⁵ are printed. Candidates and observers have said that limiting the length of this review period will be essential to getting the elections back on track for November.

The list contains more than 6.3 million voters, of which more than 40 percent have been verified against the electoral list from 2000. It also includes the names of more than 900,000 new Ivorian voters, almost 50,000 foreigners and another 2.7 million voters not found in historical lists, according to Ivorian and private French technical operators.

Voter registration⁶ issues, particularly issues of nationality and voter eligibility⁷, have prompted Ivory Coast to push back the election several times since President Gbagbo's mandate⁸ ran out in October 2005.

Civil war cut the nation in half in 2002, after rebels attempting to overthrow⁹ President Gbagbo took control of the northern part of the country. Thousands were killed in the conflict, and the country, though now at peace, remains¹⁰ tense and fractured. The country has since missed deadlines for presidential elections set by 2007 and 2008 peace accords that created a transitional, power-sharing government.

Issues of nationality were divisive during the crisis and remain sensitive. Though processing registration data for the country's some 6.5 million identified voters proved time-consuming, government officials have emphasized that confirming the validity of voter applications is essential to ensuring the success of the election.

U.N. special envoy¹¹ to Ivory Coast, Young-Jin Choi, says that though these technical delays are "not encouraging," too much progress has been made to get discouraged now. He says the publication of the provisional list marks the end of a lengthy¹² data processing period, and there is now a "very strong electoral momentum¹³" that will be difficult to break.

"The processing itself is over now, so that means there are progresses every day, every week. The election is just around the corner," said Young-Jin Choi. "You can even feel it."

Yet, the publication and approval of the voter list, though a crucial step, is not the only obstacle remaining. The disarmament of the country's former rebel factions¹⁴, set to be completed before the vote, is also behind schedule.

Though election officials are still working toward a November 29 poll, observers fear there is still too much work to be done and scrambling¹⁵ to make the deadline could result in a flawed vote. 

1 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

2 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。

3 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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？

7 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

8 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

9 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

12 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

13 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

14 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

15 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》