2007年VOA标准英语-Sierra Leone on High Alert During Vote Count

By Phuong Tran
Dakar
14 August 2007

Voters in in Sierra Leone are anxiously awaiting more election results after a small percentage of the count was announced on Monday. Officials counseled patience while they increased patrols around the country and security forces threatened to shut down an opposition¹ party radio station. Phuong Tran has more from VOA's West Africa Bureau in Dakar.

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People look at the results of Sierra Leone's presidential and legislative elections in Freetown, 13 August 2007

Sierra Leone police have been put on high alert as officials count the vote from Saturday's highly-contested presidential and legislative elections.

As soon as the National Electoral Commission announced late Monday that the opposition All People's Congress had a 10 percent lead over the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party in the presidential poll, the opposition's radio station reportedly started receiving celebratory calls.

Police and military authorities asked the station to stop its call-in show while the vote was being tallied³.

 

In a national radio broadcast, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah said he would not, in his words, tolerate malicious⁴ people who precipitate⁵ the chaos⁶ that engulfed⁷ Sierra Leone during 11 years of civil war.

Local journalist Kelvin Lewis said the station complied.

"They have agreed not to continue doing their phone-in sessions," he said. "People were making allegations and inciting⁸ other people."

Lewis says early predictions of an opposition victory have worried officials and increased tension.

 

The National Electoral Commission was widely expected to announce a significant bloc⁹ of returns. But it announced only a small percentage and has said it will take as long as necessary to tabulate¹⁰ all the results.

 

Journalist Lewis says voters vary in how they feel about an indefinite wait.

 

"It depends who you talk to. If you talk to an APC [All People's Congress] supporter, he would say, yes, the vote count is going well," he said. "If you talk to a SLPP [Sierra Leone People's Party] supporter, he may hit you in the face."

Officials have not reported any significant election-related violence.

According to the limited votes counted thus far, the opposition presidential candidate Ernest Koroma, of the All People's Congress, is ahead of Vice¹¹ President Solomon Berewa of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party. President Kabbah was not eligible¹² to run because of term limits.

 

If none of the seven presidential candidates wins 55 percent of the vote, there will be a second round of voting.

 

While most international election observers agree that voting was largely calm and fair, some have said they are waiting until the final results are accepted by winners and losers alike before declaring the election a democratic success.

These are the first elections since peacekeepers left Sierra Leone in 2005.

1 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。

2 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

3 tallied   

v.计算，清点( tally的过去式和过去分词 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• The girl tallied them with her eyes for a moment. 新娘用目光把这些化妆品清点了一下。 来自教父部分
• His account of the accident tallied with hers. 他对事故的陈述和她的相吻合。 来自辞典例句

4 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

5 precipitate   

adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物

参考例句：

• I don't think we should make precipitate decisions.我认为我们不应该贸然作出决定。
• The king was too precipitate in declaring war.国王在宣战一事上过于轻率。

6 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

7 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

9 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

10 tabulate   

v.列表，排成表格式

参考例句：

• It took me ten hours to tabulate the results.我花了十个小时把结果制成表格。
• Let me tabulate the results as follows.让我将结果列表如下。

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 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。