非洲—埃塞阿比亚不平静的未来

Ethiopia's Troubled Future

埃塞阿比亚不平静的未来

 

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had a lot at stake in the May 15th parliamentary elections because they were seen as the first real test of his popularity among voters since he took office in 1995. But official results of the elections have been delayed until July.

 

Lencho Bati of the Oromo Liberation Front, based here in Washington -- an opposition¹ group that monitors Ethiopian politics -- says there were many irregularities.

 

Lencho Bati: The regime conducted this election only to get international legitimacy². Because of the large showing of the voters, the way the voting when was against what the government was willing. Once the government see the opposition are winning, then they stopped counting and then began tampering⁴ with the ballot⁵ boxes and changing the numbers.

 

At least 36 people died during violent clashes between police and demonstrators during a week of protests after the elections. However, the Ethiopian Ambassador to the United States, Kassahun Ayele, blames the deaths on illegal activity.

 

Kassahun Ayele: They had set out their clear objective to violate the constitution through an illegal way. It led to violence, which was uncalled for and which was unnecessary. There were complaints like there were anywhere else about the nation process, about the counting [of the ballots], but there are provisions to handle these complaints [within the law].

 

The credentials⁶ for several reporters, including three for the Voice of America in Addis Ababa -- all Ethiopian citizens -- were revoked⁷ for alleged⁸ illegal journalistic activities and unbalanced reporting. In response, VOA Director David Jackson defended their coverage⁹ of the elections as being balanced and objective.

 

But according to Cedric Barnes at the University of London, the Ethiopian government is desperately¹⁰ trying to change its image as a home to brutal¹¹ dictatorships.

 

Cedric Barnes: It can be seen as classic revolutionary progress in terms of the monarchy¹² of the overthrow¹³. And there was by a great variety of different political organizations from that emerged, the military, and the military established to one party state.

 

What followed was 17 years of bloody¹⁴ uprisings and wide-scale drought. In 1991, Meles Zenawi led a coalition¹⁵ of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, in overthrowing¹⁶ the Marxist government of Menghistu Hailé Mariam.

 

Charles Schaefer at Valparaiso University in Indiana says that today Prime Minister Zenawi is walking a political tight rope with opposition coming not only from large ethnic¹⁷ groups, such as the Oromo and the Amhara, but also from within his own political party following a two year border war with Eritrea that ended in 2000.

 

Charles Schaefer: A number of the old guard Tigrenian leadership was critical of the way Meles prosecuted¹⁸ the war and the way in which he backed down in the ceasefire and then the peace process allowing Eritrea to recoup itself. It came to a critical point in which Meles had to scurry¹⁹ to find his supporters within the politburo. Even within his own province, there is disunity.

 

Analyst²⁰ Cedric Barnes says a major factor contributing to Prime Minister Zenawi's fragile hold on power is the Ethiopian economy, which grew an estimated 12% last year.

 

Cedric Barnes: The economy in Addis Ababa is actually pretty dynamic, the problem is: How much are people benefiting rather than just a few elites²¹?

 

For now, the political divisions in Ethiopia seem to be overshadowed by the country's growing stature²² in the world community. Prime Minister Zenawi says he is committed to reducing poverty and has been named to an international commission charged with revitalizing Africa by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

 

Nevertheless, the recent unrest comes at a particularly bad time for Prime Minister Zenawi who is trying to convince the world's richest countries to forgive Ethiopia's foreign debt and to provide new aid.

 

Meanwhile, the Ethiopian government and opposition parties have renewed a deal to peacefully resolve their dispute over last month's parliamentary elections.

 

For focus, I’m Paul Westpheling.

 

注释：

irregularity [i7re^ju5lAriti] n. 不规则，无规律

tamper³ with 损害，篡改

demonstrator [5demEnstreitE] n. 示威者

coverage [5kQvEridV] n. 新闻报导

brutal [5bru:t(E)l] adj. 残忍的；不人道的

dictatorship [dik5teitEFip] n. 专政

uprising [5Qp5raiziN] n. 起义

Eritrea [7eri5tri(:)E] n. 厄立特里亚

back down 放弃原主张

recoup [ri5ku:p] vt. 赔偿，补偿

scurry [5skQri] vi. 急赶

politburo [pE5litbjuErEu] n.（共产党的）政治局

disunity [dis5ju:niti] n. 不统一

1 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。

2 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

3 tamper   

v.干预，玩弄，贿赂，窜改，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• Do not tamper with other's business.不要干预别人的事。
• They had strict orders not to tamper with the customs of the minorities.他们得到命令严禁干涉少数民族的风俗习惯。

4 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

7 revoked   

adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It may be revoked if the check is later dishonoured. 以后如支票被拒绝支付，结算可以撤销。 来自辞典例句
• A will is revoked expressly. 遗嘱可以通过明示推翻。 来自辞典例句

8 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

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。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

11 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

12 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

13 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

14 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

15 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

16 overthrowing   

v.打倒，推翻( overthrow的现在分词 )；使终止

参考例句：

• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship. 他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I always delight in overthrowing those kinds of schemes. 我一向喜欢戳穿人家的诡计。 来自辞典例句

17 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

18 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

19 scurry   

vi.急匆匆地走；使急赶；催促；n.快步急跑，疾走；仓皇奔跑声；骤雨，骤雪；短距离赛马

参考例句：

• I jumped on the sofa after I saw a mouse scurry by.看到一只老鼠匆匆路过,我从沙发上跳了起来。
• There was a great scurry for bargains.大家急忙着去抢购特价品。

20 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

21 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

22 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。