VOA常速英语2016--刚果选举乱糟糟 令人深感失望

刚果选举乱糟糟 令人深感失望

On March 20th the Republic of Congo held presidential elections considered flawed; marred¹ by widespread irregularities, a media blackout during the polls, an imbalanced and restrictive media environment, significant disparity in access to state resources, a short time frame for electoral preparations, and restrictions² on freedoms of expression, communication, and association in the pre-election period.

3月20日刚果共和国举行的总统选举被认为存在严重问题。普遍的违规现象，民意调查过程中的媒体封锁，不平衡且受限的媒体环境，获取国家信息渠道存在的明显差异，选举准备工作上的仓促以及选举前期，言论，通讯及结社自由均受到限制搅乱了此次选举。

In this political environment President Denis Sassou Nguesso, won a third, five-year term in office in an election that officially gave him 60 percent of the vote.

而就是这种政治环境让总统德尼·萨苏-恩格索在选举中以60%的支持率正式再次连选连任获得5年任期。

Nguesso, who is 72 years old, decided³ to run for a third Presidential term in fall of 2015.

72岁的恩格索决定在2015年秋季第3次竞选总统。

Under the country's constitution, Mr. Nguesso was not eligible⁴ to run for a third term, and was also disqualified due to his age.

而国家宪法规定恩格索不具备竞选总统第3任期的资格，而且年龄也不符合规定。

In order to remove these obstacles, his government proposed changes to the country's constitution that would enable him to run for a third term.

为了消除这些障碍，他的政府提议修改国家宪法，这样他便有资格竞选第三任期。

On October 25th of last year, the Congolese government held a deeply flawed referendum to alter the country's constitution, despite massive protests on October 20th and 21st that turned bloody⁵ when security forces opened fire into the crowd of protestors, media outlets⁶ reporting dozens killed or injured.

去年10月25日，刚果政府举行了漏洞百出的公投修改国家宪法，虽然20日及21日两天爆发的大规模抗议活动由安全部门向成群抗议者开枪射击演变为暴力流血事件，而且媒体也争相报道大批人员伤亡事件，但以上这些都未能阻止此次公投。

The ruling party then announced that the referendum had passed with nearly 93 percent of the vote.

随后执政党宣布此次公投以93%的高投票率通过。

Tensions rose as the opposition⁷ disputed the results of the referendum, but another protest planned by the opposition for October 30th, was cancelled since the ban on protests had not been lifted and opposition leaders feared more blood-letting among their supporters.

而随着反对派不满此次公投结果紧张局势不断升级,但反对派计划于10月30日开始的另一项抗议活动被取消，因为抗议禁令还没有解除，而且领导层担心会更多支持者遭到伤害。

A similar fate befell a press conference planned for March 25th, during which the opposition planned to announce the results of its parallel vote count.

同样于3月25日举行的新闻发布会也被取消，而反对党本打算在此次发布会上宣布其平行计票方案。

The event was disrupted and then cancelled when police used tear gas to disperse⁸ the crowd of opposition supporters and arrested many of them.

警方使用催泪瓦斯驱散反对派支持者并逮捕许多人后这一事件被打断随后被取消。

Weeks after the government announced President Sassou's victory in the presidential election, violence has escalated⁹ in the capital.

政府宣布萨苏总统的胜利几周后，首都的暴力流血事件不断升级。

Heavy shooting and clashes between security forces and the opposition have led hundreds of residents of southern Brazzaville to flee their homes on foot toward the calmer north of the city.

安全部队和反对党人间的激烈枪战及冲突导致数百名布拉柴维尔南部的居民徒步逃离家园，前往北部更为安全的城市。

“The United States is profoundly disappointed by the flawed presidential electoral process in the Republic of Congo,” said State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner in a written statement.

美国国务院副发言人马克·唐纳在一份书面声明中说道:“美国对刚果共和国存在严重问题的总统选举感到极度失望。”

“The United States calls upon the Congolese Government to correct these numerous deficiencies before scheduling legislative¹⁰ elections in order to bring credibility to future electoral processes. We continue to urge the Congolese Government to respect the people's constitutional rights of freedom of expression, movement, and association. We further encourage all parties to engage in constructive¹¹, inclusive dialogue.”

“美国呼吁刚果政府为了给未来的选举过程营造公信力安排立法选举之前纠正解决这些存在众多的问题。我们继续敦促刚果政府尊重人民言论自由，活动自由及结社自由的宪法权利。我们也进一步推动各方加入到建设性,包容性的对话当中。”

1 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。

2 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

5 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

6 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 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。

8 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

9 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

10 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。

11 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。