VOA常速英语2008年-Variety of Issues Impact Year-Old Ivorian Peace

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
04 March 2008

Former warring sides in divided Ivory Coast are talking about more delays, one year after the latest power-sharing peace deal was signed in Burkina Faso. Repeatedly delayed elections have been scheduled for June, but both sides admit that will not be possible. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from our regional bureau in Dakar.

While target dates to start disarmament, reunification and work on new electoral lists come and go, a top New Forces rebel official Cisse Sindou points to lack of funding as one major problem.

"We need money to move forward," said Sindou. "All the technical challenges have stopped because of a lack of means to fulfill¹ them. I am talking about disarmament. I am talking about demobilization. I am talking about reinsertion and so on and so forth²."

When asked if United Nations calls for June elections are realistic, President Laurent Gbagbo's special advisor³, Lambert Seri Bahi said probably not.

"I think with regard to the situation on the ground, I think anyway the president indicated the month of June, which of course is indicative," said Bahi. "It is not the president who decides the date of the election. It is the independent election commission that sets the date of elections. I think we will definitely have elections this year, maybe not in June, maybe two months later."

Rebel official Sindou blamed the country's political parties, which he called by their French acronyms⁴, for the lack of progress.

"We are ready but the political groups, the major ones, like FPI, RDR and PDCI should really focus on the elections instead of politics as usual," said Sindou.

Political parties have been pressing President Gbagbo and rebel leader and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro to make faster progress on redeploying administrative⁵ staff in the rebel-held north and on creating a reunified army.

A former militia⁶ fighter for Mr. Gbagbo, Jeff Agba, says political leaders must understand that the more that time is wasted the harder it is for average people to make a living.

"There is no work at this time," said Agba. "Everyone wants to see elections before opening the markets, before opening society, because they are all scared about the elections."

Previous elections have been violent in Ivory Coast, and Agba senses trouble ahead.

"At this time, they are starting to say a lot of things," he said. "They are starting to disagree on the elections."

Rebels took over more than half of Ivory Coast in late 2002, saying they were fighting for equal rights for northerners. Mr. Gbagbo called it a foreign-backed assault, and says he has been trying to ensure Ivory Coast can become truly independent of foreign meddling⁷, including from the former colonizer⁸ France.

1 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

4 acronyms   

n.首字母缩略词( acronym的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Scratch the subject of defence and acronyms, abbreviations, and buzzwords fly out. 话题触及国防，缩合字，缩写字和行话就满天飞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some acronyms as scientific terminology are used as a lexical item. 一些科学术语缩写用作词汇项目。 来自互联网

5 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

6 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

7 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

8 colonizer   

殖民者，殖民地开拓者，移民

参考例句：

• In the first few year, the colonizer find life difficult. 头几年里，殖民地开拓者觉得生活艰难。