2006年VOA标准英语-Thai Prime Minister Claims Snap Election W

By Scott Bobb
Bangkok
03 April 2006

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has claimed victory in Sunday's snap elections that were boycotted² by the opposition³. But he acknowledged that many Thais protested his government by casting ballots⁵ for no candidate and he proposed an independent commission to address their concerns. Official results are days away.

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Thaksin Shinawatra leaves party headquarters, Monday
  

Thailand's embattled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in his first public interview since Sunday's elections, told television host Adisak Srisom of a government-owned station, that his Thai Rak Thai party has lost support since its landslide⁶ re-election one year ago.

Mr. Thaksin says unofficial returns show that his party received 16 million votes, less than the 19 million last year, but adds that it is more than 50 percent nationwide.

The prime minister, facing street demonstrations⁷ and accusations⁸ of corruption⁹ and abuse of office, had pledged he would resign if he received less than one-half of the votes.

Early unofficial returns supported the prime minister's victory claim, which was due in part to a boycott¹ by the three main opposition parties. But he is likely to have difficulty forming a new government because of the many abstention votes against his party.

In Bangkok and southern Thailand, unofficial returns showed that abstention votes outnumbered votes for the prime minister's party, despite the fact that its candidates ran unopposed in two-thirds of the districts.

Mr. Thaksin is proposing "the creation of an independent commission" and said if it recommended that he resign he would do so.

The opposition has rejected the offer. The head of the Democrat¹⁰ Party, one of the boycotters, Abdhisit Vejjajiva, said earlier that the prime minister must resign. He says the results show many people did not believe an election was the way to resolve the current leadership crisis.

Organizers of the mass protests said they would resume their anti-Thaksin rallies.

Because of the boycott, dozens of parliamentary seats are expected to remain vacant, meaning there must be by-elections to fill those seats before a new government can be formed.

Delays are expected to prolong the political crisis that Mr. Thaksin had hoped to resolve by calling these elections three years early.

The crisis began in January when the Thaksin family sold nearly two billion dollars of corporate¹¹ shares and legally avoided taxes on the sale. The prime minister has faced almost daily street protests accusing him of corruption and abuse of office, charges he denies.

The head of the Forum¹² Asia civic¹³ group, Gothom Arya, says there were some irregularities, including a lack of privacy in polling booths and the fact that it was essentially¹⁴ a one-party election in a democratic country.

"It makes the people feel unhappy because to begin with they are unhappy with the election itself, so any incidents is [are] aggravating¹⁵ that sentiment," he said.

The opposition and several monitoring groups said they would ask the courts to annul¹⁶ the ballot⁴ on the grounds that the right to secret ballots was violated.

1 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

2 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

3 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。

4 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。

5 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

7 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

9 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。

10 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。

11 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

12 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

13 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

14 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

15 aggravating   

adj.恼人的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• How aggravating to be interrupted! 被打扰，多令人生气呀！
• Diesel exhaust is particularly aggravating to many susceptible individuals. 许多体质敏感的人尤其反感柴油废气。

16 annul   

v.宣告…无效，取消，废止

参考例句：

• They have the power to alter or annul inappropriate decisions of their own standing committees.他们有权改变或者撤销本级人民代表大会常务委员会不适当的决定。
• The courts later found grounds to annul the results,after the king urged them to sort out the "mess".在国王敦促法庭收拾烂摊子后，法庭随后宣布废除选举结果。