VOA标准英语2009年-New Sudan Referendum Deal Raises Fresh Cha

By Alan Boswell
Nairobi
20 October 2009

North and South Sudan say they have reached a breakthrough deal over the details of the long planned southern independence referendum. The agreement allows the South to secede¹ with a simple majority vote, but will require a voter turnout of two-thirds for the referendum to be considered valid².

The North's ruling National Congress Party and the South's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement have been engaged for months of talks over the final implementation³ of the peace deal signed in 2005.

The most sensitive impasse⁴ has been over the details of an independence vote for South Sudan set for January 2011. The North has held the position that a 75 percent or even 90 percent majority vote in favor of secession should be required for the referendum to pass. The South has been demanding the threshold of a simple majority.

Sudan Foreign Ministry⁵ spokesman Moawya Othman Khaled confirms Khartoum reached the referendum agreement with the South.

"Yes, there is an agreement reached in the referendum row, based on two things," he said. "The first one - the quorum⁶ that must vote for the referendum should be two-thirds. And, the decision of independence could go with 50 percent plus one, that means simple majority."

Recent surveys and reports all indicate that the vast majority of southerners support secession, meaning the battle now for the South is likely to be fought over the new challenge of reaching the two-thirds quorum.

Based on voter turnout data from other countries, Sudanese analyst⁷ John Ashworth says that reaching the turnout requirement might be a bigger task than the South's leaders realize.

"Southern Sudan is going to find it extremely difficult to get two-thirds of the eligible⁸ voters to be able to vote, given the climate, the logistics, the terrain⁹, the insecurity, the lack of capacity," said Ashworth. "All of these things which hampered¹¹ the census¹² are also going to hamper¹⁰ the referendum."

Ashworth says it is not clear yet whether the two-thirds mark is meant to apply to all eligible southern Sudanese voters, or whether it will only apply to registered voters in the South - which he says would be a more feasible, though still challenging, task. The voter registration¹³ process has yet to start.

He sees the new turn in the negotiations¹⁴ as favorable for the National Congress Party, one that creates a substantial new barrier to a fully¹⁵ independent southern Sudan.

"It was rather difficult for them [the NCP] to maintain this 75 percent majority vote. They probably were not getting much international support for that, because it did seem a bit unfair to everybody," he said. "So I think they found a new strategy. The quorum was not in the initial discussions."

The deal is not without its critics in the North. A major northern opposition¹⁶ party has blasted the compromise, saying the splitting of a nation is much too serious a decision to be chosen on the basis of a simple majority vote.

The United Nations has expressed concern that inter-ethnic violence in the South might prevent stable elections from taking place. The SPLM accuses Khartoum of instigating¹⁷ the violence, a claim the National Congress Party denies.

1 secede   

v.退出，脱离

参考例句：

• They plotted to make the whole Mississippi Valley secede from the United States.他们阴谋策划使整个密西西比流域脱离美国。
• We won't allow Tibet to secede from China and become an independent nation.我们决不允许西藏脱离中国独立。

2 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

3 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

4 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 quorum   

n.法定人数

参考例句：

• The meeting is adjourned since there is no quorum.因为没有法定人数会议休会。
• Three members shall constitute a quorum.三名成员可组成法定人数。

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

9 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

10 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

11 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

12 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

13 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？

14 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

15 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

16 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。

17 instigating   

v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Distant but clear Longyin instigating the eardrums of every person. 遥远却清晰的龙吟鼓动着每一个人的耳膜。 来自互联网
• The leader was charged with instigating the workers to put down tools. 那位领导人被指控煽动工人罢工。 来自互联网