2007年VOA标准英语-Mauritania Holds Senate Election in Post-Coup P

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
21 January 2007

Mauritania

The large sparsely¹ populated desert country of West Africa, Mauritania, has held a senate election as part of a post-coup process to bring about civilian² rule. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from our regional bureau in Dakar.

Nearly 3,700 municipal councilors voted to select a 56-seat senate Sunday, with results expected in the coming days.

This was the latest step in an electoral process that will culminate³ with a presidential election in March.

Local political analyst⁴ Racine Sy says Mauritanians are pleased with all the elections.

"It is something that is new, and during a lot of years they did not think that something like this could happen in this country to have free and democratic elections like this," said Racine Sy.

A regional observer, Bob LaGamma, with the U.S.-based group Council for the Community of Democracies, says democratic progress in Mauritania could spur similar advancement⁵ elsewhere.

"Mauritania is very significant in the broader context of democratization in Africa because it is kind of a border country that embraces both North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa," added LaGamma.

He expects the senate vote to be very competitive, like the legislative⁶ elections last year.

"One would reasonably expect that there would be a number of parties competing for power, no one of which will dominate and therefore compromise and coalitions⁷ may be in the future of Mauritania," continued LaGamma.

Political leaders Ahmed Ould Daddah and Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah both have parties which did reasonably well in the legislative election, and expect good scores in the senatorial vote.

They are also two of the main presidential candidates, in a crowded field.

A recent entry is Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, a descendant of former slaves. Slavery is still practiced in parts of Mauritania. Analyst Sy says Boulkheir will spur interest, but he does not believe he has an overall chance.

"I do not think he has a lot of chance to be a winner because you have two tendencies here, we have independent candidates, and we have also the traditional parties of the opposition," said Sy.

Leaders of a military junta⁸ that overthrew⁹ former strongman Maaouiya Ould Taya in August 2005 have pledged not to run. The deposed¹⁰ former leader remains¹¹ in exile. His supporters have been competitive in the elections.

1 sparsely   

adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地

参考例句：

• Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比，这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 culminate   

v.到绝顶，达于极点，达到高潮

参考例句：

• The celebration of the centenary will culminate with a dinner.百年庆典活动将以宴会作为高潮。
• Everyone feared that the boundary dispute between these two countries would culminate in a war.人人都担心,这两国间的边境争端将以一场战争到达顶点。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

6 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。

7 coalitions   

结合体，同盟( coalition的名词复数 )； （两党或多党）联合政府

参考例句：

• History testifies to the ineptitude of coalitions in waging war. 历史昭示我们，多数国家联合作战，其进行甚为困难。
• All the coalitions in history have disintegrated sooner or later. 历史上任何联盟迟早都垮台了。

8 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

9 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

10 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。