VOA常速英语2008年-Kremlin Candidate Wins Russian Vote; Fairness Q

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
03 March 2008

With all but half a percent of the ballots¹ counted from Sunday's presidential election in Russia, Kremlin candidate Dmitri Medvedev has garnered² more than all of his opponents, combined. Now, Medvedev is indicating how he will share power with outgoing President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to become prime minister. VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports from Moscow.

The foregone conclusion of a Medvedev victory is now all but official. Central Election Chief Vladimir Churov announced the preliminary results at a Monday morning news conference in the Russian capital. The only ballots yet to be counted are from Russians voting abroad and inaccessible³ places of the country.

The final half percent will not change the result, with Medvedev winning more than 70 percent of the vote. Communist Party candidate Gennady Zyuganov comes in second, with nearly 18 percent. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, perennial⁴ candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party, received less than 10 percent. Andrei Bogdanov, a complete political unknown, got just over one percent.

None of the opponents posed a serious threat to Medvedev. Politicians who might have been considered - including former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, human rights activist⁵ Vladimir Bukovsky, reformer Boris Nemtsov and former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov - were prohibited from running because of technicalities.

Election chief Churov says voter participation⁶ set a nationwide record.

The election chief says voter turnout was nearly 70 percent.

But Russia's independent voter rights group, Golos, says the organization received numerous telephone calls on its hotline from teachers, factory workers, university professors and others complaining they were forced to cast ballots. The director of Golos, Lilia Shibanova, told VOA the source of the pressure probably comes from local, not Kremlin authorities.

The reason, says Shibanova, is because the goal set by local officials was aimed at boosting results in order get preferential treatment from the center.

The highest turnouts, in excess of 90 percent, came from some of Russia's poorest regions, such as Mordovia, Chechnya, and Dagestan.

Dmitri Medvedev says he will take over presidential offices in the Kremlin and Mr. Putin will move into the prime minister's office at the Russian Federation⁷ Building, also known as Russia's White House. Medvedev says their tandem⁸ rule will not create difficulties, because the Russian Constitution clearly delineates authority between the president and head of government. Medvedev notes he will have constitutional authority over foreign affairs.

Medvedev says Russia's main foreign policy priority will be to maintain relations with the country's closets neighbors - members of the Commonwealth⁹ of Independent States. He says his first foreign visit will be to one of the CIS countries.

The Medvedev statement and modest reference to the possibility of victory came Sunday evening, after it was already clear that official declaration of his presidency¹⁰ was a mere¹¹ formality.

Meanwhile, the head of an observer delegation¹² from the Parliamentary Assembly of Europe, Andreas Gross, says the results indicate a reflection of the will of an electorate¹³ whose democratic potential was not tapped. Gross says flaws in the presidential vote were a repeat of the same ones that occurred in December's parliamentary election. He mentioned unequal media access for opposition¹⁴ candidates, which is one of the reasons Russian critics have called Sunday's vote "stage-managed."

About 300 foreign observers came to monitor an election that involved about 96,000 polling stations over Russia's 11 time zones. The key European monitoring group, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, refused to come, saying restrictions¹⁵ imposed by the Russians would have made a meaningful assessment¹⁶ impossible.

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 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句

3 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

4 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

9 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

12 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

13 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

14 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。

15 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

16 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？