2006年VOA标准英语-Congo Election Brings Threat of Renewed Unrest

By Nico Colombant
Kinshasa
01 August 2006

Even though voting day Sunday in the Democratic Republic of Congo was mostly peaceful, analysts¹ and observers agree the process remains² fraught³ with dangers, including a possible return to war.

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Joseph Kabila leads in East DRC   
  
Official results for the presidential election will not be out before the end of August, but already candidates are announcing their own tallies⁴.

A consensus⁵ that is emerging is that President Joseph Kabila, the son of the former rebel turned leader Laurent Desire Kabila, has done very well in the east of the country.  Meanwhile, former Uganda-backed rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba leads in the capital Kinshasa and other parts of the west.

Both of these candidates have armed forces that are loyal exclusively to them.

 
Bemba supporters have warned of violence
  
Bemba has warned repeatedly that if he does not find the electoral process transparent⁶, he could go to war.

The Central Africa Project Director for the International Crisis Group, Caty Clement⁷, says such threats should be taken very seriously.

"What now is the consequence of that threat should it be carried out, I am not sure it would be something that could threaten the entire country, the stability of the entire country, but something that really matters is that you have the possibility of just deciding to go it alone and that you have little turfs that become independent of the rest of the country in a sense," she noted⁸.

She says only half of the process of integrating the armed forces has been accomplished⁹, with about 80,000 former fighters still largely outside the army.

She also says it seems voting was polarized along ethnic¹⁰ lines.

Many young people in Kinshasa and in central mining areas say they will riot and kill foreigners if Mr. Kabila is credited with winning directly in the first round with more than 50 percent of the vote. They say they believe the vote was in his advantage from the start.

An election observer, former Burundi President Pierre Buyoya, says he understands their frustration¹¹.

"I have also heard the same rhetoric¹²," he said.  "First, I have to say it is a normal rhetoric in a time of competition. Our job as observers is to find out if the election has been free and fair. There have been some irregularities.  Now, we are busy evaluating the impact of those irregularities on the whole exercise."

International observers will give a joint¹³ assessment¹⁴ Wednesday. 

Mr. Buyoya says he believes it would be better for Congolese democracy to have a second round. Clement, from the Brussels-based research organization, agrees.

"A second round would help to prevent this east-west divide in the country," she added.  "If you have a second round, it forces both parties to build alliances, to bridge the geographical¹⁵ divide in the country, so to that extent it would certainly be something profitable."

But the head of a human rights group called Voice of the Voiceless, Chebeya Floribert, says the whole process favored former warlords who were installed in a power-sharing government.

He says there are clear signs there could be massive street protests and even a return to war after results are announced.

 
European forces patrol Kinshasa 
  
He says this has been made quite visible by the arrival of a European rapid reaction force, to boost the U.N. peacekeeping mission.  He believes the whole electoral process was artificial and came too fast, with too much outside help.

Foreign diplomats¹⁶ and U.N. personnel have already started planning possible evacuations because of the threat of looming¹⁷ unrest.

A one-round election for a 500-seat parliament also took place Sunday.  Observers and analysts say that under the new constitution approved last year the president will have the power to dissolve that assembly.  They say the outcome of the presidential election is definitely the most crucial aspect in determining the future of the troubled and mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo.

1 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

2 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。

3 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

4 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

6 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。

7 clement   

adj.仁慈的；温和的

参考例句：

• A clement judge reduced his sentence.一位仁慈的法官为他减了刑。
• The planet's history contains many less stable and clement eras than the holocene.地球的历史包含着许多不如全新世稳定与温和的地质时期。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

10 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

11 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

12 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

13 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

14 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？

15 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。

16 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望