VOA常速英语2008年-Mugabe, Tsvangirai to Attend Emergency Summit o

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
10 April 2008

 In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe and opposition¹ leader Morgan Tsvangirai are reportedly to attend an emergency summit of southern African leaders to discuss Zimbabwe's elections.  VOA's Scott Bobb reports from our Southern Africa Bureau in Johannesburg that the meeting is being held amid growing concern over the delayed results.

Zimbabwean government officials have announced President Mugabe's attendance at Saturday's summit in Lusaka, saying it is a normal meeting aimed at briefing southern African leaders on the vote.

But Movement for Democratic Change secretary-general Tendai Biti said Morgan Tsvangirai would tell the leaders his opposition party won the elections and they needed to press Mr. Mugabe to accept defeat.

"We hope that at SADC on Saturday the message that will be sent to President Mugabe, loudly, very clearly, is that please Mr. President, you've done your bit," Biti said. "You're a founding father, step down and let those who were given a mandate² to govern carry on with the business, the important business, of rehabilitating³ that beautiful country called Zimbabwe."

Official results released a week ago show the Movement for Democratic Change won a majority of seats in the national assembly and half of the seats in the senate.

But Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said ZANU-PF is seeking a recount in many constituencies because he said numerous discrepancies⁴ had been found.

"Some of these discrepancies could have been due to human error and maybe some of them due to criminal intentions on the part of those who may not have put the right figures," he noted⁵. "We also noticed that we think the prejudice in some instances was not just against our president, but also against the other contesting candidates."

Twelve days after the vote the results of the presidential election have yet to be announced.  The opposition says its tallies⁶ of official results posted at polling places show Mr. Tsvangirai won the election with more than 50 percent of the vote.

Biti said the opposition believes the recount and the delayed results are part of efforts by the ruling party to overturn its defeat.

"We have no doubt beyond a reasonable doubt that ZANU-PF have done a forensic⁷ audit⁸ of this election which they do not have powers [to do]," he said.  "And in complicity with the Zimbabwe Election Commission they have opened those ballot⁹ boxes.  They have moved those ballot boxes, and they know what is inside those ballot boxes."

The head of the Southern African Economic Community, Zambian President Levy¹⁰ Mwanawasa, announced the SADC summit Wednesday, amid rising concern in the region over a looming¹¹ crisis in Zimbabwe.

Mr. Mwanawasa was said to have rejected an initial proposal to send a high-level delegation¹² to Zimbabwe.

"Because of the deepening problem in the country, I felt that this matter should be dealt with at the presidential level," he said.

The Zimbabwe issue has begun to sow divisions within the region.  South Africa's ruling African National Congress said the presidential election results should be released as soon as possible.  The statement followed comments by ANC President Jacob Zuma that the delay did not look good for the future.

South African President Thabo Mbeki has urged patience, and South African diplomats¹³ have rejected calls for international intervention¹⁴ in Zimbabwe or for Mr. Mugabe's departure. 

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 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。

3 rehabilitating   

改造（罪犯等）( rehabilitate的现在分词 )； 使恢复正常生活； 使恢复原状； 修复

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• She was more concerned about protecting the public than rehabilitating the criminal. 她比较关心保护百姓，而不大关心改造罪犯。

4 discrepancies   

n.差异，不符合（之处），不一致（之处）( discrepancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• wide discrepancies in prices quoted for the work 这项工作的报价出入很大
• When both versions of the story were collated,major discrepancies were found. 在将这个故事的两个版本对照后，找出了主要的不符之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

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 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

8 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

9 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。

10 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

11 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

12 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

13 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》

14 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。