美国国家公共电台 NPR--Tunisians vote in favor of constitution that gives the president sweeping powers

Tunisians vote in favor of constitution that gives the president sweeping¹ powers

Transcript²

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Mai El-Sadany, managing director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, about the outcome of a constitutional referendum in Tunisia.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Tunisians voted overwhelmingly to usher³ in a new constitution that gives the president near absolute power. The constitution allows President Kais Saied to consolidate⁴ his rule, weaken Parliament and appoint judges. And the vote could spell the end to a democracy that was being built following mass protests over a decade ago that sparked regional revolts demanding democratic change. So what does the future look like for Tunisians? Joining us now is Mai El-Sadany. She is the managing director at The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, and she joins us by Skype. Good morning.

MAI EL-SADANY: Good morning, Leila. Thanks for having me.

FADEL: Thank you for being here. So, Mai, before we get into how Tunisia got to this point, is this new constitution an actual end to democracy in Tunisia?

EL-SADANY: It's a really alarming document, but that's not all. Really, like you mentioned, since Kais Saied declared a state of exception one year ago, he's been taking a number of steps to expand his presidential powers. He's weakened independent institutions. He's eaten away at the strength of the judiciary and the legislature, effectively getting rid of checks on power and has been creating this hyper presidentialist (ph) system, which many fear are quite similar to the autocratic state that was brought about by the 1959 constitution. And so this constitution, this document really threatens to make all of those steps that we've seen over the last year permanent and to normalize all of that.

FADEL: Now, how will these changes impact average Tunisians?

EL-SADANY: They create a climate of fear. They create a climate in which the president, all powerful, in which it's that much more difficult to challenge him, whether on the media or organizing as a civil society advocate or even taking to social media. We've already seen quite a number of alarming steps over the last year. You've seen a rise in the military trials of civilians⁵. You've seen attacks and targeting of journalists. You've seen murmurs⁶ that maybe the NGO law will be amended⁷ in order to restrict civic⁸ space. And this is just what we've seen in the last year. So imagine a climate in which this constitution becomes permanent and sort of paves the way for all of this to occur systemically.

FADEL: So going back really to a similar atmosphere that people protested against back in 2010, 2011, but there has been a lot of disillusionment with democracy, that it didn't bring the promised change in the last decade, right?

EL-SADANY: There certainly has. But I think this has less to do with democracy as a system of governance and more to do on the work that needed to be done by those in power, by political parties and otherwise, to really challenge the economic situation, to deliver on the demands of the people. I think there's a global understanding that democracy is imperfect, but it does guarantee a minimum threshold through which you can engage, through which you can push back, through which you can talk about what you need. And now we threaten both to have economic deterioration⁹ and a closing space for any form of engagement and opposition¹⁰.

FADEL: And we should point out that this - the vote was overwhelmingly in favor, but many people didn't vote. There was a boycott¹¹ campaign, right?

EL-SADANY: There was a boycott. And it's really important to talk about the process itself, a process that's lacked transparency and inclusivity, even demonstrated in the simple fact that the draft constitution wasn't released till the 30 of June and then updated July 8, just days before people were expected to have read it, understood it, made a decision and in a climate where we lack the space to engage freely or talk about it or ask questions, really.

FADEL: Mai El-Sadany is the managing director of The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. Thank you so much.

EL-SADANY: Thank you.

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

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 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

4 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 murmurs   

n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕

参考例句：

• They spoke in low murmurs. 他们低声说着话。 来自辞典例句
• They are more superficial, more distinctly heard than murmurs. 它们听起来比心脏杂音更为浅表而清楚。 来自辞典例句

7 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

8 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。

9 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

10 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。

11 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。