VOA常速英语2008年-Zimbabwe Opposition Accuses Mugabe Supporters o

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
08 April 2008

Opposition¹ leaders in Zimbabwe say supporters of President Robert Mugabe have launched a campaign of violence in order to derail elections 10 days ago, which they say they won.  The accusation² comes as a court in Harare began hearings on the delayed results of the presidential vote.  VOA's Scott Bobb reports from our Southern Africa Bureau in Johannesburg.

The secretary-general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Tendai Biti, says militias³ of the ruling ZANU-PF party are being armed and are attacking MDC supporters in what he called massive post-election violence.

Biti appealed to African governments to intervene in what he called the constitutional and legal crisis in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Commercial Farmers Union leader Trevor Gifford said supporters of Mr. Mugabe have evicted⁴ farmers who were thought to have supported the opposition.

"Sixty farmers have been removed from their farms since Saturday evening and of those 60, two are black commercial farmers and the remainder are white commercial farmers," he said.

He said it reminded some of the period following the elections of 2000 and 2002 in which all, but a few hundred of Zimbabwe's 4,000 white farmers were evicted and their farms given to liberation-war veterans and government officials.

"We have information at hand, which shows to us that this is state sponsored," he added.  "It is directed by parts of the military, the [ruling] party and the war veterans.  And basically, we are getting very little support in trying to sort out this problem."

The high court in Harare began an urgent hearing at the request of the opposition on whether to oblige the Zimbabwe Election Commission to release results of the presidential election 10 days ago.

The Commission has released results from the parliamentary election showing the opposition won a majority of the seats.  And it has released results from Senate elections showing the two sides won an equal number of seats.

But results for the presidential vote have not been released.  The opposition and pro-democracy civic⁵ groups say their tallies⁶ of official results posted outside polling centers show MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mr. Mugabe and may have won the 50 percent majority needed be declared the winner outright⁷.

The government has asked for a recount of many of the results and has arrested five electoral officials, accusing them of undercounting votes for Mr. Mugabe.  ZANU-PF leaders have indicated they are preparing for a runoff election, which is required if no presidential candidate wins 50 percent of the vote.  By law a runoff must be held within 21 days of the announcement of the results.

The opposition says these moves are part of an orchestrated attempt by the ruling party to overturn its first defeat since independence 28 years ago.  Western governments have expressed concern over the delay, but South African President Thabo Mbeki urged patience Monday, saying the process should be allowed to take its course.

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 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

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 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

5 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

6 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》

7 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。