VOA标准英语2008年-Britain Says Zimbabwe's President Can Expect Mo

Britain says Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe can expect more pressure from the international community due to the deteriorating¹ situation in his country before Friday's presidential runoff vote. A senior official in London also says Britain supports Zimbabwean opposition² leader Morgan Tsvangirai's decision to withdraw from the election. Tendai Maphosa has more for VOA from London.
　
Mark Malloch Brown (file photo)

Foreign Office Minister Mark Malloch Brown told reporters it would have been preferable for Movement for Democratic Change candidate Morgan Tsvangirai to contest Friday's runoff vote. But, Malloch Brown said his withdrawal³ is understandable.

"We completely understand and support the decision of the MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai to pull out, because clearly the conditions for the elections to proceed had become impossible," he said.

Malloch Brown says the violent blocking of an opposition rally, which Mr. Tsvangirai was supposed to address Sunday, could have been the tipping point. He went on to express deep regret that the people of Zimbabwe are being denied an opportunity to have their voices heard on June 27.

Mr. Tsvangirai won the most votes in the presidential election on March 29, but the Zimbabwe Election Commission said he did not gain an outright⁴ majority. The MDC also won the parliamentary elections and most local government elections.
　
Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main opposition party in Zimbabwe speaks at a press conference in Harare, 22 Jun 2008

Malloch Brown says Mr. Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the runoff election throws into question any claim to victory by President Mugabe.

"He has no claims under his own constitution for the presidency," Brown said. "The AU [African Union] has clear conditions about not accepting any more presidents non-democratically elected to hold their seats, SADC [Southern African Development Community] has its own clear principles about the conduct of elections; all of these have essentially⁵ been breached⁶. We do not accept the status quo and we do not expect the international community to accept the status quo."

President Mugabe has consistently blamed the opposition for the violence and outside interference, especially from former colonial power, Britain. Both the opposition and Britain deny the charge.

But, says Malloch Brown, the events of the past six months show that situation in Zimbabwe can now be characterized as Mugabe against the international community.

To this end, he said, the situation is up for discussion by various organizations including the United Nations, the European Union, the G8 and the Africa Union.

"So, we expect out of all these different forums⁷, action," said Brown. "Some of them, like the EU or the G8, it is appropriate for us to make proposals as to what that action should be. Others such as the U.N. and the AU it is important that we are very much part of the discussion."

Last week the European Union warned that unspecified additional measures would be taken against those responsible for the violent campaign in Zimbabwe. EU sanctions already include a travel ban on Mr. Mugabe and 130 members of his inner circle.

 

1 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

2 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。

3 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

5 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

6 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

7 forums   

讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭

参考例句：

• A few of the forums were being closely monitored by the administrators. 有些论坛被管理员严密监控。
• It can cast a dark cloud over these forums. 它将是的论坛上空布满乌云。