VOA慢速英语2014 印度尼西亚组成新内阁

 

AS IT IS 2014-10-30 Indonesia's New Cabinet Gets Mixed Reaction 印度尼西亚组成新内阁

Since the beginning of his political career, Joko Widodo has worked hard to separate himself from Indonesia’s political leadership. Observers say they saw this quality in him even when he served as mayor of a small town. In his first week as Indonesian president, Mr. Widodo has sought to build on to this political identity.

Corruption¹ is a serious issue in the country. In an unusual move, the president asked the country’s anti-corruption agency to investigate nominees² to his cabinet. That process led to delays and resulted in the removal of eight ministerial candidates.

Thirty-four ministers in Mr. Widodo’s “working cabinet” were announced on Sunday. A few hours later, they were sworn-in at ceremonies in the official home of the president. The ministers promised to follow the law and reject bribes³ – unlawful attempts to influence their judgment⁴.

The cabinet includes technical experts, business people and a few others credited with being reformers. Keith Loveard is with Concorde Consulting, a company that advises businesses. He describes the cabinet appointments as a “wait and see” cabinet.

“The tone of the cabinet, certainly there are some elite⁵ members there and there are some people with questionable⁶ human rights backgrounds, as one would expect in Indonesia. But there is also this new blood as it were, a new spirit of entrepreneurial talent,” he said.

The cabinet has several business leaders who are unproven in government. They include Susi Pudjiastuti, who owns an airline company.

Joko Widodo has promised to reform government agencies and target an economic growth rate of seven percent.

A number of observers have praised the nomination⁷ of Pratikno as State Secretary. He has served as the rector, or head, of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. The president chose the rector at Paramadina University, Anies Baswedan, as the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education.

Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi has been named foreign minister. She is the first Indonesian woman to hold the position. A career diplomat⁸, she formerly⁹ served as ambassador to the Netherlands, Iceland and Norway. She is one of eight women in the new administration.

But observers have criticized the number of political appointments to the cabinet. They were especially unhappy with appointments of people close to former President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Siti Zuhro is with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. She says the cabinet appointments show that Mr. Widodo is not completely independent.

“I think there is no question about the role of Madame Megawati Sukarnoputri, that she played an important role in appointing and recruiting the candidates,” he said. 

Throughout his political campaign, Mr. Widodo has said he would not trade ministerial positions for political support.

Yet a small number of leaders in his party have been given cabinet positions. They include the former president’s daughter, Puan Mahrani, who will direct four coordinating¹⁰ ministries¹¹, and former general Ryamizard Ryacudu as defense¹² minister. Critics say he has a questionable human rights record.

Observers say these appointments are a sign of the new president’s common sense, but weaken his effort to create excitement about the new government.

Of 34 ministers in the new cabinet, 21 are either connected to a party or linked to top party officials.

Words in This Story

career - n. a chosen profession; a person’s working life

president - n. the chief official of a country that is a republic; the leader of an organization

corruption - n. actions taken to gain money or power that are legally or morally wrong

minister - n. a member of a cabinet; a high government official; ministerial – adj., relating to a government minister or his office

1 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。

2 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

3 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

4 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

7 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

8 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

9 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

10 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

11 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

12 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。