VOA标准英语2009年-Former Military Ruler Inaugurated as Mauri

Mauritania's former military ruler has taken the oath of office as the nation's new civilian¹ president. His political opponents are still challenging the outcome of last month's election.
　
Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, left, speaks to the press shortly after being declared the victor in the previous day's presidential election, in central Nouakchott, 19 July 2009

Former general Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was sworn in as president a year after taking power in a military coup² that toppled the nation's first freely-elected leader.

In a ceremony at Nouakchott's Olympic Stadium, President Aziz told a crowd of 20,000 Wednesday evening that he will fight terrorism and is committed to improving the living conditions of the poor.

Mr. Aziz won election last month with more than 50 percent of the vote following a well-organized campaign that portrayed³ him as the "President of the Poor". The 54-year-old vowed⁴ to improve access to health care while lowering food and fuel prices.

By winning outright⁵ in the first round, he avoided a second-round run off in which his political opponents had vowed to unite against him.

Those opponents - chiefly National Assembly President Messaoud Ould Boulkheir and Official Opposition⁶ Leader Ahmed Ould Daddah - say the July vote was an electoral coup d'etat meant to legitimatize⁷ last year's coup.

In a written statement Wednesday, the opposition leaders again said the vote was neither free, nor democratic, nor transparent⁸. They say they are not concerned by the president's inauguration⁹ and believe the political crisis in Mauritania continues.

But despite some irregularities in last month's vote, the results were verified by both the Interior Ministry¹⁰ and the Constitutional Council. Most of the international community has now concluded that President Aziz was elected fairly.

French Cooperation Minister Alain Joyandet attended the inauguration.

Joyandet says the new president accepted all the demands of the international community by having a transitional government with the military and ran as a candidate in the campaign like all the other candidates in a vote that the Constitutional Council says was transparent.

With the president's inauguration, Joyandet says Mauritania is once again a key French partner in the region.

He encouraged greater cooperation between Mauritania and Mali in the fight against terrorism. Al-Qaeda's North Africa affiliate¹¹ has been active in the area, attacking government troops and kidnapping foreign tourists.

While Mauritania's leading political opponents say they will not cooperate with the new Aziz government, members of the International Crisis Group are hoping there will eventually be some reconciliation¹².

African Union Ambassador to Belgium Mohamed Sale Nadif was part of the International Crisis Group that negotiated the transitional government that led to last month's vote.

Nadif says the group is calling on all Mauritanians to maintain their internal political dialogue. He says the legality of the election has now been decided¹³. What is left is to continue the dialogue between the government and its opponents to confront the main challenges of development and political stability.

Mauritania could use some political stability. The new Aziz administration is Mauritania's fifth government in just over five years.

 

1 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。

2 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

3 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

5 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。

6 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。

7 legitimatize   

v.使合法化，立为嫡嗣

参考例句：

• It would legitimatize renewal by the Soviet Union and therefore accelerate the nuclear arms race. 它将使苏联的重新试验合法化，从而加速核军备竞赛。 来自辞典例句

8 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

9 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

11 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

12 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。