美国国家公共电台 NPR--Divided political parties in Tunisia unite to boycott parliamentary elections

Divided political parties in Tunisia unite to boycott¹ parliamentary elections

Transcript²

Rights groups say Tunisia appears to be regressing back to autocracy³ under President Kais Saied — in a global trend of populist leaders getting elected. Saied dissolved parliament in March.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Nearly 12 years ago, a wave of revolts started right here in Tunisia and spread across the Middle East and North Africa.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in non-English language).

FADEL: People demanded freedom of speech, opportunity and a say in who governed them. Autocrats⁴ toppled in Tunisia, Egypt, then Libya. But Tunisia was the only nation to emerge with a nascent⁵ democracy - until now. Rights groups say it appears to be regressing back to autocracy under President Kais Saied in a global trend of populist leaders getting elected. Earlier this week, a protest grew near the clocktower on the main avenue in the center of Tunis.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).

FADEL: I'm looking at probably four or 5,000 people waving Tunisian flags, chanting things like, down with the coup⁶, out Kais Saied, days before a parliamentary election that many are saying are part of an undemocratic process.

A group of young men and women stand in a circle and begin to sing. The feeling of freedom has melted our handcuffs.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Singing in non-English language).

(Chanting in non-English language).

FADEL: Among the demonstrators, we find Manal Imbarak, a 38-year-old lawyer.

Are you voting on Dec. 17?

MANAL IMBARAK: (Non-English language spoken). No. No. This year, no.

FADEL: Why?

IMBARAK: (Through interpreter) These elections are coming under a coup. The president made by himself the new constitution. He made by himself the electoral law. So, no, we're not participating in such a comedy.

FADEL: Imbarak actually voted for the president. A lot of people here did. When he was elected, he was pretty popular. That's waned⁷, but it's not gone. Malak Manaree (ph) happened upon the protest.

MALAK MANAREE: (Through interpreter) I don't understand why they're here, why they want to get rid of Kais Saied. He still needs time to go forward.

FADEL: So you like him.

MANAREE: (Through interpreter) He didn't bring the bed situation with him. It's - has always been there.

FADEL: Who brought the bad situation?

MANAREE: Ennahda. (Through interpreter) It's Ennahda who done - who's done most of the wrong things.

FADEL: The Islamist party Ennahda has dominated every parliamentary election since Tunisia's revolution. Nearby, we meet with Selim Kharrat at his office.

SELIM KHARRAT: Hi. I'm Selim. Nice to meet you.

FADEL: Nice to meet you.

He heads Al Bawsala, a Tunisian government watchdog group. I came with my questions, but he had his own.

KHARRAT: Are you able to do your work?

FADEL: I will say...

KHARRAT: We are not supposed to talk to you.

FADEL: You're not?

KHARRAT: No, within the new law. We are not supposed to speak to foreign journalists.

FADEL: Isn't that your entire job, to watchdog and to speak on this issue?

KHARRAT: Yeah, absolutely - because it's a dictatorship.

FADEL: It's one of several decisions by the president aimed at suppressing critics. But that didn't stop Kharrat and others from speaking with us. His was one of the first Tunisian civil society organizations to sound the alarm when Saied sacked the elected Parliament on July 25.

KHARRAT: It was very obvious from the beginning for us that it was not respectful to the constitution, and it was a decision that the president took alone. And the days after this move, we saw that we were right - (laughter) - when we see the events that followed.

FADEL: It was a very popular move when he did it. People were...

KHARRAT: Yeah.

FADEL: ...Very angry at the Parliament.

KHARRAT: But you have to understand why it was popular.

FADEL: Since the revolution, Tunisians had seen one political crisis after the next, so much political infighting that nothing was getting done to reform an economic system plagued by corruption⁸ and cronyism⁹. To keep the state afloat, the government kept taking on debt.

KHARRAT: Decision makers¹¹ lacked courage, and the result is that one single person took the liberty to hijack¹² the economic transition. Now it's - I mean, we no longer have margins¹³.

FADEL: The state is on the verge¹⁴ of economic collapse¹⁵.

KHARRAT: Other partners of Tunisia put a condition in order to help Tunisia. We had no solutions other than to negotiate a new IMF program. And when you have to negotiate such a program, you have to accept very harsh conditions.

FADEL: So since July 25, what has the president done in the days since that day?

KHARRAT: Ignoring all the communications that Al Bawsala and several other actors of the civil society took to say to the president, OK, stop. You have to stop. We saw that a lot of journalists, a lot of civil servant and also lot of politicians were pursued by military courts, which is in terms of international standards - which is unacceptable.

FADEL: Has Tunisia returned to autocracy? Is democracy dead?

KHARRAT: Tunisia in its own - her way - is on the way of autocracy. The legislative¹⁶ elections of this week is one of the last steps of this process that the president implemented¹⁷ by himself.

FADEL: What the government says is, this is the only way to preserve Tunisia's democracy. The Parliament wasn't working. The population was angry. And the new constitution passed with popular support.

KHARRAT: Yeah. The popular support was quite relative because...

FADEL: It was low turnout.

KHARRAT: ...Only 3 out of 10 Tunisian did vote. If I had the president or its prime minister in front of me, I would ask them a very simple question. You had two years without any kind of opposition¹⁸. You were alone to take any kind of decision you wanted to take. What are the results? I mean, they are governing alone, but what did they do since two years? Nothing.

FADEL: Saied rode to power on a wave of anger among Tunisians against the political establishment, a lot of it aimed at the Islamist party, Ennahda.

KHARRAT: They have been a very dominant¹⁹ party since 10 years, so they are seen by the majority of Tunisian as the main responsible of this situation. Ennahda did not do its mea culpa.

FADEL: What do they need to apologize for?

KHARRAT: To explain why the Parliament was inefficient²⁰ under their rule, to explain their own responsibility in terms of economic and social crisis and to say sorry to people who are suffering from this.

FADEL: So we head to Ennahda's party headquarters and meet with its longtime leader, Rached Ghannouchi, the speaker of the Parliament until last year.

RACHED GHANNOUCHI: (Through interpreter) Yes, we were part of the government, and we have our part of responsibility, but we did not rule the country alone. It is normal that there would be an antirevolution. But at least in 10 years, we succeeded to maintain freedom and liberty.

FADEL: At 81, his hands tremor²¹. He wears a Tunisian flag pin on his lapel. He recounts the day the president dissolved the elected Parliament.

GHANNOUCHI: (Through interpreter) It was one of the darkest days in Tunisia's history. We were at Ennahda's offices, and we had to declare from the beginning, from the first day that this was a coup. After the press conference, we went to the Parliament. We found a tank in front of the main gate. And we told the soldier, why do you prohibit us from entering our house, the house of the people? We entered the Parliament by elections, and you want to get us out of it with a tank.

FADEL: And since that day, you've had to appear in court.

GHANNOUCHI: (Through interpreter) So the coup maker¹⁰ had decided²² to sue 123 parliamentary members in the martial²³ court.

FADEL: All of the parliamentary members are being taken to military courts?

GHANNOUCHI: (Through interpreter) All of them have been sued under some law article that can lead them even to death sentence.

FADEL: So is there a possibility that you would face the death sentence?

GHANNOUCHI: (Through interpreter) All this is possible, depending on the judge. The president of the republic and the minister of justice are putting a lot of pressure on the judges.

FADEL: The parliamentary elections on Saturday - what do they represent for Tunisia, in your view?

GHANNOUCHI: (Through interpreter) Misleading people - misleading people because he created the game. He decided the rules of the game. So what is left for the others or for people is just playing the game that he decided for them. All the international community and the international organizations should know that they are dealing²⁴ with an illegitimate regime.

FADEL: There is - or at least for a lot of people, there is a general loss of faith in the political system, that people's lives are not better. They're just tired of political paralysis²⁵, political infighting. And there's a lot of anger towards your party. They feel that the party turned a blind eye to extremists in the country. In some cases, members may be inciting²⁶ violence. When you look back at the last 12 years, are there things you think should have been different or done differently?

GHANNOUCHI: (Through interpreter) This is very understandable. I mean, Ennahda is the oldest party in the country. It's the biggest body in the country. It is the most organized party in the country. They were not able to compete with us in the ballot²⁷ boxes, so they are trying to compete with us by defamation²⁸ and by accusing us. I personally have six cases in court. They are all about terrorism. They all can lead to a death sentence. They are not able to prove it on me. And I have never been arrested or taken to jail. I'll just go do the investigations²⁹ and come back home.

FADEL: I ask him if he thinks his party owes the country an apology for how bad the economy got before the Parliament was disbanded.

GHANNOUCHI: (Through interpreter) The revolution had two main goals. One was democracy, and the other one was development. And in 10 years, we succeeded to fulfill³⁰ the democracy part. We are not succeeding in fulfilling the development part because it requires a certain stability. We are a new democracy, so we didn't settle everything. But Kais Saied came and brought us back to the - before the democracy.

FADEL: But it also sounds like you acknowledge that some mistakes were made by your party that was dominant in the Parliament.

GHANNOUCHI: (Through interpreter) Of course. We are not prophets. The biggest mistake is that we voted for Kais Saied and that we have been seduced³¹ by his vague words. We made mistakes, but we made no crimes against our people. They accuse us of corruption, but no one was able to prove any corrupted³² member of Ennahda.

FADEL: In a sea of divided political parties, this weekend, they finally unite in their boycott of this election. We requested interviews with Tunisia's president, the prime minister and foreign minister, but so far, none were granted.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOUR TET'S "TWO THOUSAND AND SEVENTEEN")

1 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 autocracy   

n.独裁政治，独裁政府

参考例句：

• The revolution caused the overthrow of the autocracy.这场革命导致了独裁政体的结束。
• Many poor countries are abandoning autocracy.很多贫穷国家都在放弃独裁统治。

4 autocrats   

n.独裁统治者( autocrat的名词复数 )；独断专行的人

参考例句：

• Still, the widespread pessimism doesn't explain the relatively high scores enjoyed by the autocrats. 不过，普遍的悲观情绪并没有解释为何独裁者得到相对较高的分数。 来自互联网

5 nascent   

adj.初生的，发生中的

参考例句：

• That slim book showed the Chinese intelligentsia and the nascent working class.那本小册子讲述了中国的知识界和新兴的工人阶级。
• Despite a nascent democracy movement,there's little traction for direct suffrage.尽管有过一次新生的民主运动，但几乎不会带来直接选举。

6 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

7 waned   

v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• However,my enthusiasm waned.The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. 然而，我的热情减退了。我在做操上花的时间逐渐减少了。 来自《用法词典》
• The bicycle craze has waned. 自行车热已冷下去了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 cronyism   

n.任人唯亲，对好朋友的偏袒

参考例句：

• Many small town mayor and city official practice cronyism.许多小镇的市长和大城市的官员都有任人唯亲的行为。
• Bringing business people into politics can also produce corruption and cronyism.商人从政也容易带来腐败和任人唯亲。

10 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

11 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 hijack   

v.劫持，劫机，拦路抢劫

参考例句：

• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。
• The hijack take place just after the plane take off.劫持是飞机刚起飞后发生的。

13 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

14 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

15 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

16 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。

17 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

18 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。

19 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

20 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

21 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

22 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。

23 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

24 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

25 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

26 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

27 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。

28 defamation   

n.诽谤；中伤

参考例句：

• Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
• The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

29 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

30 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

31 seduced   

诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷

参考例句：

• The promise of huge profits seduced him into parting with his money. 高额利润的许诺诱使他把钱出了手。
• His doctrines have seduced many into error. 他的学说把许多人诱入歧途。

32 corrupted   

（使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
• The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。