经济学人175:阿富汗选举 有效的转折

 　　Afghanistan's election

　　阿富汗选举

　　A useful crisis

　　有效的转折

　　A fudge between two feuding¹ presidential candidates may offer a political road map

　　两个长期不和的总统候选人相互挤兑，这或许能提供一个政治路线图

　　HOLDING a presidential election in Afghanistan only months before the withdrawal² of Western combat forces was bound to be risky—even before one of the candidates, Abdullah Abdullah, reacted to preliminary results showing a suspiciously big lead for his opponent, Ashraf Ghani, by alleging³ “industrial-scale” fraud. The political crisis could have plunged⁴ the country into chaos⁵ and even war.

　　于西方作战部队撤离前几个月在阿富汗举行总统选举注定是充满风险的。候选人之一的阿卜杜拉断言，对手阿什拉夫的支持率远远领先于他是可疑的，是“工业”欺诈。这场政治危机可能会使该国经济陷入混乱甚至战争。

　　Yet this dangerous moment could turn out to be oddly productive. Disaster has been averted⁶ thanks to the banging-together of heads by America's secretary of state, John Kerry, and to the good sense of the presidential candidates, who stared into the abyss and retreated. Their deal points towards a political structure that should work better than the current one.

　　然而，这一危险时刻可能会出奇地有效。由于美国国务卿约翰·克里的群策群力和陷入深渊和撤退时总统候选人们的理智，灾难得以避免。他们的策略指向更有效工作的政治结构。

　　Come on, it's Afghanistan

　　来吧，这就是阿富汗

　　阿富汗选举.jpg

　　In the first round of the election to replace Hamid Karzai as president, nearly 7m Afghans turned out to vote. But in the second, Dr Abdullah made no gain at all from the 45% of the vote he had secured in a crowded field; meanwhile, the share of his rival, Mr Ghani, leapt from 31% to 56%. Suspiciously, turnout increased by more than 1m votes. Mr Ghani has the backing of Mr Karzai, who stole the election from Dr Abdullah in 2009. This time Dr Abdullah's backers threatened to establish a breakaway government. That might lead to civil war.

　　在第一轮选举中，近700万阿富汗人支持替换哈米德·卡尔扎伊总统。但在第二轮中，阿卜杜拉并没有在他有把握的45%领域中获得选票，与此同时，他的竞争对手阿什拉夫的支持率从31%上升到56%。可疑的是，选票增加了100多万。卡尔扎伊是支持阿什拉夫的，他在2009年的选举中从阿卜杜拉手中窃取了选举的胜利。这一次阿卜杜拉的支持者们扬言要建立独立政府，这可能导致内战。

　　Barack Obama called Dr Abdullah and threatened to stop all American military and financial aid. Dr Abdullah backed down. In return, America has promised a full, internationally supervised audit⁷ of every vote cast. The inauguration⁸ of a new president has been postponed⁹ from August 2nd to the end of the month. In truth it is not at all clear how much fraud an audit will pick up. But both candidates have promised to accept the result, and that matters more than the actual tally¹⁰.

　　巴拉克?奥巴马同阿卜杜拉联系，威胁称美国将停止所有军事和经济援助。阿卜杜拉做退缩了。作为回报，美国已承诺对投票过程进行完全的国际监督审查。新总统的就职典礼已从8月2日推迟到这个月底，事实上，还不清楚在审查过程中会发现多少舞弊行为。但两位候选人都承诺接受结果，这比实际数字更重要。

　　As well as being a short-term fix, the deal holds out the promise of a solution to the structural¹¹ problems of Afghanistan's politics. Too much power resides in the office of the president. In 2004, when the constitution was ratified¹², extreme centralisation—for example, all provincial¹³ governors and police chiefs are appointed by the president—seemed the best way to hold the country together. Now it is pulling it apart. Political loyalties¹⁴ and social ties require local expression. But Mr Karzai's ability to bypass institutions by forming his own network of patronage¹⁵ has stunted¹⁶ the development of Afghan democracy and done nothing to cut corruption¹⁸. A bizarre voting system, crying out for reform, has prevented the formation of real political parties and resulted in a weak and fractious legislature.

　　作为一个短期的解决方案，该协议同时提供了解决阿富汗政治结构性问题的方法。总统办公室拥有太多的权力。2004年宪法生效时，极度的中央集权—例如所有省长和警察局长由总统任命—似乎是将整个国家团结在一起的最好方式。现在，中央集权却使国家分裂了。政治忠诚和社会关系需要地域表达。但卡尔扎伊绕过机构形成自己的资助网络，阻碍阿富汗民主的发展并且未能削弱腐败。一个奇怪的迫切需要改革的投票系统，阻碍了真正的政党形成，并形成了脆弱又难以控制的立法机构。

　　Under the deal brokered¹⁹ by Mr Kerry, there will be a government of national unity²⁰. The election-winner will be president, but the loser (or his nominee) will be “chief of the executive council”, a new position implying power-sharing. Then, after two years, there will be a loya jirga (a gathering²¹ of tribal²² elders, local power-brokers and elected officials) to approve constitutional changes that include the creation of the post of prime minister. He would rank below the president but have executive powers.

　　根据克里的谈判交易，将会成立一个民族团结的政府。选举获胜者将成为总统，但失败者(或其指定人)将作为执行委员会的主席,，新职位意味着分权。两年之后，将会有一个支尔格大会(部落长老们、地方政治掮客和民选官员们的聚会)来批准修改宪法，包括建立总理一职，该头衔低于总统但有行政权力。

　　Such a structure would better reflect the reality of a country that is ethnically²³ diverse, corrupt¹⁷, Byzantine and more comfortable with give and take than a winner-takes-all politics. It might also offer a route out of violence for those Taliban who are not implacable ideologues but feel shut out by the present system. If Afghanistan's leaders can make it work, they will be doing their country a huge service.

　　这样的结构可以更好地反映一个国家的现状—多民族的、腐败的、拜占庭式的、更适合平等交换而不是赢者通吃的政治。它还可能给那些觉得被现有制度拒之门外的塔利班们一条远离暴力的道路。如果阿富汗领导人能使之生效，它们将会为这个国家做出巨大贡献。

　　As so often happens in Afghanistan, everything could still go suddenly wrong. But Mr Kerry has helped ensure that a good crisis has not gone to waste.

　　这种事情在阿富汗时有发生，一切都仍有可能突然失败。但克里确保了这个良好的转折点还没有被浪费。

1 feuding   

vi.长期不和（feud的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Riccardo and Cafiero had been feuding so openly that the whole town knew about it. 里卡多和卡菲埃罗一直公开地闹别扭，全城的人都知道此事。 来自辞典例句
• The two families have been feuding with each other for many generations. 这两个家族有好多代的世仇了。 来自互联网

2 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

3 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

4 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

5 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

6 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

7 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。

8 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

9 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

10 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

11 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

12 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

13 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

14 loyalties   

n.忠诚( loyalty的名词复数 )；忠心；忠于…感情；要忠于…的强烈感情

参考例句：

• an intricate network of loyalties and relationships 忠诚与义气构成的盘根错节的网络
• Rows with one's in-laws often create divided loyalties. 与姻亲之间的矛盾常常让人两面为难。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 patronage   

n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场

参考例句：

• Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午，店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
• I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉，我的赞助只能到此为止。

16 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

17 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

18 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。

19 brokered   

adj.由权力经纪人安排（或控制）的v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的过去式和过去分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• a peace plan brokered by the UN 由联合国出面协商的和平计划
• Your husband brokered the deal to go in, transfrer the assets and get our man out. 你丈夫后来插了一脚，把生意都抢了过去，我们的人也被挤了出来。 来自电影对白

20 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

21 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

22 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

23 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句