VOA慢速英语2021 缅甸军方为何接管政府？

Myanmar's military has taken control of the country, ordering a one-year state of emergency. Reports say State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other government leaders have been detained.

缅甸军方控制了该国并下令实施为期一年的紧急状态。有报道称，国家参赞昂山素季和其它政府领导人被扣押。

The constitution gives the military strong powers

宪法赋予军方强大权力

The announcement on military-owned Myawaddy TV said Article 417 of the country's constitution permits the military to take over in times of emergency. The announcer said the coronavirus crisis and the government's failure to postpone¹ November elections were reasons for the emergency.

军方控制的Myawaddy电视台公告称，宪法第417条允许军方在紧急状况时期接管国家。播音员表示，新冠病毒危机和政府未能推迟去年11月选举是进入紧急状况的原因。

The military wrote Myanmar's constitution in 2008. The country is also known as Burma. The document gives the military the most power in the country and places limits on democratic, civilian³ rule. The group Human Rights Watch has described Article 417 as little more than an excuse for the military to seize all power.

军方于2008年编写了缅甸宪法。该国也被称为Burma。宪法赋予军方在该国的最高权力，并限制了民主和文官统治。人权观察组织称缅甸宪法第417条就是军方夺取所有权力的借口。

The constitution also provides important Cabinet ministries⁴ and 25 percent of the seats in Parliament to the military. This limits the power of a civilian government and rules out changing the constitution without military support.

该宪法还向军方提供了重要的内阁部长职位以及25%的议会席位。这限制了文官政府的权力，并排除了在没有军方支持下修改宪法的可能性。

Some experts said they were uncertain why the military would change or destabilize their standing⁵. Others, however, noted⁶ the upcoming retirement⁷ of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who has been leader of the armed forces since 2011.

有专家表示，他们不确定为什么军方会改变或破坏他们的立场。然而有人提到了2011以来一直担任武装部队领导人的敏昂莱将军即将退休。

There is "military politics around that, which is very opaque," said Kim Jolliffe. He is an expert on Myanmar civilian and military relations. The military has put Vice⁸ President Myint Swe in office as head of the government for one year. He is a former military officer.

金·乔利弗表示，非常不透明的军事政治围绕于此。他是缅甸文职和军事关系专家。军方已经任命副总统吴敏瑞担任政府首脑，为期一年时间。吴敏瑞也是前军官。

Elections held in November

去年11月举行的选举

In the November elections, Suu Kyi's party got 396 out of 476 seats in the lower and upper houses of Parliament. The state Union Election Commission confirmed that result.

在去年11月的选举中，昂山素季领导的政党获得了国会上院和下院476个席位中的396个。缅甸联邦选举委员会证实了这一结果。

But, beginning right after the elections, the military has said there were millions of problems with voter lists in 314 townships. This could have let some voters cast more than one ballot⁹ or break other voting rules. "But they haven't really shown any proof of that," Jolliffe said.

但是选举刚结束，军方就表示314个乡镇的选民名单上存在数百万个问题。这可能会导致一些选民多次投票或破坏其它选举规则。乔利弗表示：“但是军方未能出现任何证据。”

The election commission rejected the military's claims last week. It said there was no evidence to support them. The military takeover came on what should have been the first day of the new Parliament. But the new Parliament did not open. Instead, Suu Kyi and other lawmakers were reported detained.

选举委员会上周否人了军方的说法。它称军方没有任何证据支持他们。军事接管发生在原本新议会的第一天。但是新议会未能开放。相反，据报道昂山素季和其他议员被扣押。

A later announcement on Myawaddy TV said the military would hold an election after the one-year emergency ends. The winner of that election will lead the country, the military said.

Myawaddy电视台后来发布公告称，在一年的紧急状态结束之后，军方将会举行选举。军方表示，选举胜者将领导该国。

Additional developments

其它发展

Telecommunications came almost to a complete stop on Monday. In the capital, the internet and phones seemed to be blocked. Those who could still get on the internet found their social media accounts had been temporarily suspended. Road blocks were set up across Yangon, the largest city. Soldiers took up positions outside government buildings such as City Hall.

缅甸的电信服务周一几乎完全停止。在该国首都，互联网和电话被封锁。那些仍然可以上网的人士发现他们的社交媒体账户已被暂时停用。缅甸最大的城市仰光设立了路障。士兵们在市政厅之类的政府大楼外站岗。

Governments and international organizations have condemned¹⁰ the takeover. They said it sets back the few democratic reforms Myanmar has made.

各国政府和国际组织谴责了这次军方接管行动。他们表示，这让缅甸已经进行的少数民主改革发生了倒退。

Linda Lakhdhir is a legal adviser¹¹ at Human Rights Watch. She described the takeover as a "blow to efforts to present Myanmar as a democracy. She added that the country's "creditability" has been damaged.

琳达·拉赫迪尔是人权观察组织的法律顾问。她称这次接管是对缅甸作为民主国家所付出努力的一次打击。她还表示，该国的国家信誉受到了损害。

Myanmar experts are afraid the country is going to enter a difficult time for human rights defenders¹², reporters and those who are critical of the military. Even before the military takeover, some reporters and free speech supporters faced legal problems.

缅甸专家担心该国将会进入人权捍卫者、记者和批评军方人士的一段困难时期。甚至在军方接管发生之前，一些记者和自由言论支持者就面临了法律问题。

A U.S. senator raised the possibility the United States could again place economic sanctions on Myanmar. The United States lifted sanctions in 2016 when Myanmar moved toward civilian rule.

美国一位参议员提出了美国可能会再次对缅甸实施经济制裁的可能性。2016年缅甸实行文官统治时，美国解除了制裁。

The U.S. Senator, Bob Menendez, a Democrat², said Myanmar's military leaders "must immediately free the democratic leaders of Myanmar and remove themselves from government." Menendez is the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

美国参议员鲍勃·梅嫩德斯是民主党人，他说缅甸的军方领导人必须立即释放民主领导人并离开政府。梅嫩德斯是参议院外交关系委员会的新任主席。

Menendez added that, if they do not free those detained, the U.S. should use sanctions.

梅嫩德斯还表示，如果他们不释放这些被扣押者，美国应该采取制裁措施。

Aung San Suu Kyi came to power in 2015. However, she was strongly criticized in 2019 for failing to protect the Rohingya Muslim people from the Myanmar military. She defended the military's actions against the Rohingya, which United Nations agencies have called genocide.

昂山素季于2015年上台。然而，由于未能保护罗兴亚穆斯林免受缅甸军方的攻击，她在2019年遭受了强烈批评。她对军方针对罗兴亚人的行动做出辩护，联合国机构将军方此举称为种族灭绝。

1 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 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。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

9 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。

10 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

11 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

12 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》