2007年VOA标准英语-Nigeria's Chaotic Election Process Fuels Pessim

By Nico Colombant
Abuja
17 April 2007

A Nigerian man look at election posters in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, 15 Apr 2007

Observers, analysts¹ and ordinary Nigerians are hoping for better presidential and legislative² elections Saturday, following the chaotic³ gubernatorial and state assembly vote last week. There were serious irregularities and acts of violence, including cases of underage voting, electoral offices burned, ballot⁴ boxes stolen and dozens of people killed. A re-vote will be needed in two southeastern states, Imo and Enugu, while results are being contested in many areas. An official ban on rallies and the re-qualification of controversial opposition⁵ presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar seem to indicate that challenges will be even greater for the upcoming poll. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from the capital Abuja.

A main problem, according to Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani from the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, is the complicated rule that determines the winner of the presidential ballot.

A candidate must receive the highest numbers of votes, not an overall majority, but at least one quarter of votes in 24 of 36 Nigerian states.

"The process is very complicated. I am not sure if, at the end of the day, there will be a clear winner of the presidential election, given the stringent⁶ clauses that you have," he said. "I doubt very much, given ... what we have seen on Saturday, if that requirement will be met."

John Ikubaje, a Nigerian observer and program officer from the Center for Democracy and Development, says the Independent National Electoral Commission, known as INEC, needs to do much a much better job.

"I am a bit worried, even from my experience in the field, where we noticed so many abnormalities. We believe that a lot needs to be done. INEC needs to prepare very well. There have been some lapses⁷. Names of some voters not on the lists, and many other problems that we saw in the field, we believe that INEC needs to prepare very well. Volunteers need to be accredited⁸ as early as possible," said Ikubaje. "We do not want a situation where elections that are supposed to start by eight o'clock, in some other places as we witnessed in the southeast, it started around three thirty."

Ikubaje also says someone, somewhere, whether in the police or at election headquarters, must take responsibility for making sure polling places are safe, as was not the case last Saturday.

"The killings⁹, the snatching of ballot boxes in daylight, where police are present on the ground, it was not encouraging," he said. "We believe that if this type of issue is to repeat itself during the presidential election, I am afraid that the type of good governance that we are expecting we might not be able to get that type of good governance."

Ikubaje says, in one incident, observers feared for their lives when they witnessed ballot boxes being stolen. Crowds of angry voters thought the observers were conniving¹⁰ with the thieves. The observers had to seek safety in a nearby hotel.

An accounting¹¹ student at Abuja University fears the upcoming election will be even more chaotic. She says she is for peace and calm, but that the ban on rallies indicates that more problems are looming¹².

"It is no good. I do not support that because that is something about democracy. You need to tell the people what you have for them, what your vision is, your plan for the people," she said. "Without the rallies, how will people know what you are willing to do or what you will be able to do for the people?"

If completed, the election will result in the first handover from an elected president to another since independence in 1960. Nigeria's outgoing parliament quashed efforts by supporters of President Olusegun Obasanjo to change the constitution and allow him to seek a third elected mandate¹³.

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 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。

3 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

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 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。

6 stringent   

adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的

参考例句：

• Financiers are calling for a relaxation of these stringent measures.金融家呼吁对这些严厉的措施予以放宽。
• Some of the conditions in the contract are too stringent.合同中有几项条件太苛刻。

7 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

8 accredited   

adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century. 通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• Only accredited journalists were allowed entry. 只有正式认可的记者才获准入内。

9 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

10 conniving   

v.密谋 ( connive的现在分词 )；搞阴谋；默许；纵容

参考例句：

• She knew that if she said nothing she would be conniving in an injustice. 她知道她如果什么也不说就是在纵容不公正的行为。
• The general is accused of conniving in a plot to topple the government. 将军被指控纵容一个颠覆政府的阴谋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

12 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

13 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。