2006年VOA标准英语-UN Appeals for Calm, Patience as Vote Counting

By Nico Colombant
Kinshasa
02 August 2006

The United Nations has appealed for calm and patience in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where vote counting has gotten off to a slow start, amid allegations of election fraud. The head of the world's largest peacekeeping mission also expressed concerns over candidates declaring their own results.

-------

William Lacy Swing, center, talks to army representatives (file photo)   
  
William Swing described Sunday's elections in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo as good elections, despite some disturbances¹ and irregularities.

Speaking in French, the head of the U.N mission also said the road that needs to be traveled remains² long for Congo, but that one step, a big step has been taken.

He said integrating former fighters, including militias³, renegade soldiers and personal security forces into the armed forces and restoring state authority throughout the vast mineral-rich country remain huge challenges.

Swing also expressed concern that media affiliated⁴ with major candidates were proclaiming their own results. He explained electoral law only allows the election commission to do so.

An international committee supporting the transition in the Democratic Republic of Congo also warned against what it called a "misrepresentation of results" that it said could sow unease among people and threaten public order.
 

Joseph Kabila  
  
Several close aides to President Joseph Kabila, the son of a slain⁵ former leader, have already said he won outright⁶ in the first round. Meanwhile, former Uganda-backed rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba says he leads in more than half the country.

There were 30 other candidates. One of them, another former rebel leader and current vice⁷ president, Azarias Ruberwa has said there was massive fraud.

The top U.N. official said such statements are dangerous and should be filed through proper, legal channels. But Swing refused to say whether the vote was free and fair, saying he could not be both judge and witness.

He said the U.N. role is to assist with security and logistics.

Worker at vote counting center   
  
One area that needs help is the Kinshasa center where votes and tally⁸ sheets are progressively being dropped off by the truckload from the country's 50,000 polling centers and thrown into storerooms.

One international observer said it looked like a garbage dump, and that he did not know how votes could be counted, or worse, recounted if need be, in such conditions.

 

Election official sorts through envelopes containing precinct results at central election processing station in Kinshasa   
  
A Congolese observer shared these concerns. He said there are even problems with how the tally sheets were filled.

"There is a very big problem with the center. Most of the people did not do a good job," the observer said. "They did not fill correctly the main paper they had to send over to this office. It is a very, very bad job, they did. It will give us a lot of time and so many days before we finish the job here."

  
UN troops guard counting center
  
Newly trained police and U.N. forces are providing security at the center.

Final results for the presidential election, in which there were more than 30 candidates, are not expected before August 20. There was also a parliamentary vote to fill 500 seats.

International observers have called for losing candidates to accept the eventual⁹ results. They stopped short of saying the poll was free and fair, saying it was too early to tell.

But the U.S.-based Carter Center said those in the power-sharing government, who were also candidates, misused¹⁰ their authority and access to public resources by obstructing¹¹ other competitors and also gaining an unfair advantage in media exposure.

1 disturbances   

n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍

参考例句：

• The government has set up a commission of inquiry into the disturbances at the prison. 政府成立了一个委员会来调查监狱骚乱事件。
• Extra police were called in to quell the disturbances. 已调集了增援警力来平定骚乱。

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 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

4 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

5 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

6 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。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

9 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

10 misused   

v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had grossly misused his power. 他严重滥用职权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。