2020年经济学人 布鲁迪的假选举(1)

Middle East & Africa

中东和非洲板块

Where dead men vote

死人在哪里投票

Burundi's sham¹ election

布鲁迪的假选举

A landslide² victory for the president's hand-picked successor

总统精心挑选的继任者以压倒性优势获胜

As peolple elsewhere hunkered down at home to avoid covid-19, millions in Burundi crowded into polling stations on May 20th to vote in the general election. Among the many voters were scores of dead people, activists³ allege⁴. Humanrights watchdogs said that members of the ruling party, CNDD-FDD, boosted its tallies⁵ by adding the ballots⁶ of people locked up in jail-and of those who had died.

5月20日，当其他地方的人们蜷缩在家里躲避新冠肺炎时，布隆迪数百万人涌入投票站参加大选投票。参与活动的人宣称，其中有许多选民是死人。人权监督机构说，执政党保卫民主全国委员会-保卫民主力量增加了被关在监狱里的人和死者的选票，从而提高了投票率。

"When I saw the same person voting for the third time I complained," says one voter. He was sent packing by officials and told to "stop creating problems".

一位选民说：“当我看到同一个人第三次投票时，我十分抱怨。”官员们把他打发走，叫他“别再制造麻烦了”。

Shenanigans such as these might explain why, for instance, in Bukeye in Muramvya province 4,000 more votes were cast than there were voters on the register. Another reason could be that some boxes already had papers in them when polling stations opened, suggests Aime Magera, spokesman for the National Freedom Council (CNL), an opposition⁷ party. Few in Burundi were surprised when the ruling party's candidate, Evariste Ndayishimiye, was declared the winner with 69% of the vote. Mr Ndayishimiye, an ex-general, was handpicked by Pierre Nkurunziza, the outgoing president who has ruled since 2005. Mr Nkurunziza is no stranger to controversy⁸. In 2015 he won a third term, despite a constitutional limit of two. (He said his first term didn't count, as he was chosen by parliament, rather than directly elected.)

诸如此类的恶作剧或许可以解释为什么，例如，在穆拉姆维亚省的布基，投票人数比登记册上的选民多出4000票。反对党国家自由委员会发言人艾梅·马格拉表示，另一个原因可能是投票站开放时，一些投票箱里已经有了选票。当执政党候选人恩达伊希米耶以69%的选票当选时，布隆迪几乎没有人感到惊讶。皮埃尔·恩库伦齐扎这位已卸任的总统自2005年一直执政，他亲手挑选了前总书记恩达伊希米耶。恩库伦齐扎对争议并不陌生。2015年，尽管宪法限制只能连任两届，但他还是赢得了第三届。（他说他的第一个任期不算数，因为他是由议会选出的，而不是直接选举产生的。）

1 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。

2 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 allege   

vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言

参考例句：

• The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的，但他们没提出证据。
• Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。

5 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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》

7 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。

8 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。