VOA常速英语2007-Togo Opposition Threatens to Disrupt Legislative

By Phuong Tran
Dakar
07 October 2007

The political opposition¹ In Togo is threatening demonstrations² in the last week of campaigning before the October 14 legislative³ election. Opposition leaders say they are worried about election fraud from the ruling party, which has been in power for most of the past four decades. Phuong Tran has more from VOA's West Africa bureau in Dakar.

The Secretary General of the Union of Forces for Change, Jean Pierre Fabre, says he will call for opposition supporters to demonstrate in two days if the National Electoral Commission does not agree to his party's request.

The party has asked that the heads of each polling station sign all ballots⁵ cast next Sunday.

Fabre says there is a problem because the ruling party, the Rally for the Togolese People, pulled out of an agreement to require these signatures.

The opposition says the signatures are needed to prevent fraud and track ballots back to their voting stations.

But ruling party spokesman, Claude Bammante, says the request can lead to more fraud.

Bammante says he thinks the opposition wants to commit fraud through the signatures. He says ballots will be invalidated if the right people from the station do not sign, or if people fake signatures. He says this requirement is dangerous because it can lead to vote tampering⁶.

Recent elections in Togo have been marred⁷ by accusations⁸ of widespread fraud, including ballot⁴ stealing by security forces allied⁹ with the ruling party.

Togo's president, Faure Gnassingbe, was voted into power in a contested 2005 election that ended in violent security crackdowns, sending tens of thousands fleeing to neighboring countries.

Chris Fomunyoh with the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs says Togo's already twice-delayed legislative election is critical for it to overcome a violent voting history.

"We are all going to be watching to see whether the Togolese government and the people of Togo will use this opportunity to begin to shred¹⁰ the image that has been associated with this country for a very long time and to see whether this election will help put Togo on a positive track," said Fomunyoh.

Togo has deployed¹¹ its largest security force before an election, which will be monitored by more than 100 military observers from the Economic Community of West African States.

More than 3,000 international election monitors are expected to oversee¹² about three million voters. Newly-arrived members from the European Union team will travel to their posts Tuesday.

The European Union has said it will fully¹³ restore aid, partially¹⁴ cut off since 1993, if the country conducts a fair and transparent¹⁵ election.

More than 2,000 candidates from 32 parties are competing next Sunday for 81 legislative positions.

1 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。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

5 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》

6 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

7 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

9 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

10 shred   

v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少

参考例句：

• There is not a shred of truth in what he says.他说的全是骗人的鬼话。
• The food processor can shred all kinds of vegetables.这架食品加工机可将各种蔬菜切丝切条。

11 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

12 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

15 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。