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Officials in Pakistan say parliamentary elections will be delayed until next month. The delay is due to the destruction of election offices and materials in violence that broke out last week after Benazir Bhutto's assassination¹.

巴基斯坦官员说，议会选举将推迟到下个月举行。巴基斯坦选举委员会表示，推迟选举是因为在上星期贝.布托遇刺后爆发的暴力事件中一些选举办公室和资料被捣毁了。

Chief election commissioner² Qazi Mohammed Farooq says the elections originally scheduled for January 8 are being postponed³ and will be held next month.

巴基斯坦选委会首席委员法鲁克说，原定1月8号举行的选举被推迟到下个月。

"The polling will now be held on 18th February, 2008 instead of 8th January 2008," he said.

他说：“投票现在改为2008年2月18号举行，而不在1月8号了。”

Election officials say they have to delay the vote because violence triggered by the assassination last week of opposition⁴ leader Benazir Bhutto destroyed a number of election commission offices and voter rolls in Sindh Province.

选举官员们说，他们不得不推迟投票日期，因为上个星期反对党领导人布托遇刺引发的暴力活动毁坏了信德省一些选委会的办公室和选民名册。

The opposition says the government of President Pervez Musharraf wants the election delayed to boost the votes for his supporters. The opposition has vowed⁵ to mobilize street demonstrations⁶ to protest the delay.

反对党表示，穆沙拉夫总统的政府希望推迟选举，以便为他的支持者们拉选票。反对党誓言发动街头示威，抗议推迟选举。

Political analyst⁷ Talat Masood says the government is worried the majority of votes would go to Ms. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, the PPP, if elections were held as originally scheduled.

政治分析人士塔拉特.马苏德表示，政府担心，如果选举按原定日期举行，多数选票将投给布托的巴基斯坦人民党。

"Probably they do not want to allow the PPP to catch the sympathy vote, and at the same time I think, you know, there is also an extreme resentment⁸ against the government at the moment. And president Musharraf would be in a very difficult position after the elections, because what he was wanting was a very favorable election result, so that may not be possible if the elections are held now," said Masood.

他说：“可能他们不想让巴基斯坦人民党获得同情票。同时，我想， 目前有一股极其怨恨政府的情绪。穆沙拉夫总统在选举之后的处境将会非常艰难，因为他本来希望获得一个非常有利的选举结果，而如果选举如期举行的话，就不大可能产生对他有利的选举结果了。”

Ms. Bhutto was assassinated⁹ last Thursday while campaigning. Her supporters blame the government for failing to take adequate security measures for her safety, and Ms. Bhutto, before her death, had accused elements within the government of plotting to kill her, a charge the government denies.

布托上星期四在进行竞选活动时遭到刺杀。支持者们指责政府没能为布托的人身安全采取足够的保安措施。布托生前曾指责政府内部有人密谋要除掉她。但是政府对此予以否认。

A top aide to Ms. Bhutto, Senator Latif Khosa, says that on the day of her assassination, Ms. Bhutto planned to give two visiting U.S. lawmakers a thick dossier outlining numerous instances of government pre-poll rigging involving voter registration¹⁰ as well as intimidation¹¹ of PPP supporters.

布托的高级助手拉蒂夫.霍萨参议员说，布托就在她遇刺的当天曾计划交给两名到访的美国议员一份厚厚的文件，上面列举的好多事例涉及政府在选举前选民登记方面的舞弊行为，以及巴基斯坦人民党的支持者遭到恐吓等。

"Everything was recorded in that, with all proofs that we have had, and with the independent reports of the foreign monitors who were also operating. Their reports also supported our allegations as to being substantial and as being true. So they were all recorded, but unfortunately she could not present the report because she was assassinated before she could do that," said Khosa.

他说：“那个文件上面有详尽的记录，附有我们所掌握的全部证据，而且还有当时在进行监督的外国人士提出的独立报告。他们的报告也证明我们所说的情况属实。那些事情全都记录下来了，不幸的是，布托没能递交那份文件，因为她没来得及做这件事就被刺杀了。”

The government denies the allegations of vote rigging.

巴基斯坦政府否认选举舞弊的指控。

The government also now says it is "open" to foreign help in investigating the assassination of Ms. Bhutto.

政府现在还表示向外国“开放”协助调查布托遇刺事件。