VOA慢速英语 2014 阿富汗卡尔扎伊接受帮助处理选举争议事件

 

AS-IT-IS 2014-07-21 Afghan's Karzai Accepts Help in Disputed Election 阿富汗卡尔扎伊接受帮助处理选举争议事件

International officials are examining all 8 million ballots¹ from Afghanistan’s disputed presidential election.  The work is expected to go more quickly as additional international observers arrive to help.

On Tuesday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke² to VOA about the dispute over the election.  Mr. Karzai said he accepted a United States-negotiated deal to carry out the examination, or audit³, because of accusations⁴ of cheating in the vote.  The examination affects the second and final election, between the top two candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani.

Speaking to VOA's Afghan Service, President Karzai said he did not welcome the agreement.  He called it a "bitter pill" because of current political conditions in Afghanistan.

"I accepted it because I wanted to get past this stage very quickly because the elections have already taken a lot of time in this country.  No country in the world has such a lengthy⁵ electoral process and this must be corrected as well.  The Afghan people are waiting, very much, very impatiently, to have their new president."

Tensions were high in the country after presidential candidates Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, both claimed victory in the final election to replace Mr. Karzai.  The vote took place on June 14th.

Afghan former foreign minister Abdullah dismissed as false the results that put Mr. Ghani ahead by 1 million votes.  Mr. Abdullah accused his opponent, election officials and President Karzai of working together to cheat in the voting.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held intense negotiations⁶ with Mr. Ghani and Mr. Abdullah in the Afghan capital, Kabul, July 12th.  Both candidates agreed to an audit supervised by United Nations.

The terms call on both candidates to honor the audit results. The winner must form a government of national unity⁷ immediately.  And, a top U.S. official said the candidate who does not win the election will be included in the new Afghan government.

President Karzai says he welcomed the idea of a national unity government.  He said all Afghan people should see themselves in their government.  But he expressed concerns about reports saying the candidates agreed to create a parliamentary democracy.

"In order for Afghanistan to have a parliamentary form of government, we must, before that, make sure we have strong institutions, the civil service of the country must be entirely⁸ and totally apolitical and protected by law."

Mr. Karzai said some parts of government, like the military and judiciary, need to be protected from political intervention⁹.  He said Afghanistan needs more time to strengthen these parts of government in order to move from a presidential to parliamentary system.

Mr. Karzai is ending his second five year term. He says will stand firmly behind the next leader of Afghanistan.

1 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》

2 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。

3 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

4 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

5 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。

6 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。

7 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。