VOA标准英语2010年-Sri Lanka President Declared Re-Electe

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at his official residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 27 Jan 2010 (photograph released by the Sri Lankan President's office)

Sri Lanka has declared President Mahinda Rajapaksa the victor over his former top general, Sarath Fonseka, in the country's first peacetime election in decades after the long civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.  But the rival to the president is refusing to concede defeat, saying that although voting was peaceful the results have been rigged to give Mr. Rajapaksa another six-year term in office. 

Sri Lanka's Election Commissioner¹ says the incumbent² president captured nearly 58 percent of the vote, 17 percent more than the former army commander. 

President Mahinda Rajapaksa called for his former opponents and their supporters to join him in building the country.

Mr. Rajapaksa says from today onward³ he is the president of everyone, whether they voted for him or not.

But his top rival is having none of it.  Sarath Fonseka told reporters the results have been rigged and displaced minority Tamils, in districts where he enjoyed support, were prevented from voting.

Defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka tells reporters he will not concede, 27 Jan 2010

He spoke⁴ to reporters in the basement of a lakeside hotel in central Colombo, which has been ringed by army troops.

The former military boss who broke with the president after last year's victory against the Tamil Tiger rebels, calls the soldiers surrounding his hotel an ominous⁵ sign his personal safety is in danger.

"Now they will try to do something, use the force and try to assassinate⁶ me and put the blame on somebody else," he said.

Government officials deny wanting to arrest the losing candidate, but say his personal security detail is mostly composed of army deserters who should be detained.

Asked by VOA News whether a deal, through diplomatic intermediaries, has been struck for him to leave Sri Lanka, Mr. Fonseka denied any such agreement.  But he said he must make his top priority his survival for the sake of his supporters.

"If they are going to assassinate me, to escape that I will take precautions.  If the best option is to leave the country for a short period, temporarily I might have to do that," he said. 

He declined to comment on speculation⁷ that the United States is a likely destination.

Both the President and the former General have been hailed as war heroes for the vanquishing⁸ of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who for decades waged war and a terror campaign to try to create an independent homeland in the North and East.

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 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。

3 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

6 assassinate   

vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤

参考例句：

• The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。

7 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

8 vanquishing   

v.征服( vanquish的现在分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制

参考例句：

• Vanquishing HIV hinges on the development of an effective vaccine or a treatment to cure AIDS. 要彻底消灭爱滋病毒，必须研发出有效的爱滋病疫苗或治疗法。 来自互联网