2007年VOA标准英语-Egyptian Court Rejects New Political Parties

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
08 January 2007

A court in Egypt rejected the appeals of 13 new political parties, denying them official recognition and thus banning them from participating in elections. The move came not long after President Hosni Mubarak pledged to strengthen Egypt's political party system. Leaders of some of the parties say it is evidence that the government is not serious about political reform. The decision has drawn¹ new criticism of the law governing Egypt's political parties. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from Cairo.

The Supreme² Administrative³ Court on Saturday upheld the recommendation of Egypt's Political Parties Committee, rejecting the applications of 13 new political parties for legal recognition.

Several of the parties' leaders say the ruling is aimed at stifling⁴ the opposition⁵.

The rejected parties include the pan-Arab Karama Party that already has two members in Parliament and the moderate Islamist party Hizb Al Wasat, the Centrist Party. Both parties have been applying for recognition since the mid- to late-90s.

The court cited technical reasons for most of the rejections⁷, but the head of the Karama Party, Hamdin Sabahi, says he is certain that the real reason his party was rejected was political.

He says, "I think there is no real will for political reform in Egypt, especially allowing the establishment of new parties. This lack of political will is the real reason behind the rejection⁶ of these parties, including the Karama party, not the legal or technical reasons."

Egypt's weak opposition parties had a particularly anemic showing in the 2005 parliamentary election, when all the registered opposition parties together won only nine of the 444 elected seats. Independent candidates were much more successful, winning more than 100 seats. 88 of those went to independent candidates openly affiliated⁸ with the Muslim Brotherhood⁹, which now has the largest opposition bloc¹⁰ in Parliament even though it is technically¹¹ a banned organization.

Less than two weeks ago, President Mubarak proposed a series of constitutional reforms that he said were, in part, aimed at strengthening Egypt's political parties.

Wasat Party leader Abul-Ela Madi said he plans to apply again, but he also thinks his party's rejection was more for political reasons than for the technical reasons that the court cited.

"If they are actually serious on political reform, they should open the door to the new parties to feed the political party life with new blood, like our party and others," he said.

Under the current system, the Political Parties Committee not only decides which new parties can be registered, but can also shut down existing parties.

Critics say the committee is overwhelmingly dominated by the ruling National Democratic Party, which means the ruling party, in effect, gets to select its own opposition.

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch says the committee's powers are too sweeping¹², and the criteria¹³ it uses to make those decisions are too subjective¹⁴.

Even before the court decision, Human Rights Watch was calling for an urgent reform of Egypt's political parties law. The group's Middle East director, Sarah Leah Whitson, said in a statement that the Egyptian government "for decades has used the political parties law to fix elections before they begin."

Cairo-based Human Rights Watch researcher Elijah Zarwan said planned reforms to the entire electoral system could combine with the restrictions¹⁵ on forming political parties to exclude many more people from political activity.

He said, "Actually, since the independent candidates affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood did so well in the last parliamentary election, in November and December 2005, you have had a bunch of senior members in the National Democratic Party, and recently the president himself, hinting that they might return to party-list voting. Now ... in theory there is nothing wrong with this."

"In practice, though, as long as there are these restrictions based on political parties and as long as the government gets to decide who can be a political party, this would exclude most of the legal opposition in Parliament," he added.

A party-list system would likely allocate¹⁶ seats in Parliament on a proportional basis according to the percentage of votes they receive. Senior members of the ruling party have advocated such a system, saying it would allow the NDP to send more women and Christians¹⁷ to parliament.

But the party's detractors say a party-list would also allow the NDP leadership to exercise tighter control over its own ranks, as well as practically exclude the outlawed¹⁸ Muslim Brotherhood from parliament.

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

4 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。

5 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。

6 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

7 rejections   

拒绝( rejection的名词复数 )； 摒弃； 剔除物； 排斥

参考例句：

• Most writers endure a number of rejections before being published. 大部分作家经历无数次的退稿才守得云开，作品得到发表。
• Supervise workers and monitors production quality to minimize rejections. 管理工人，监控生产质量，减少退货。

8 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

9 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

10 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

11 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

12 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

13 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

14 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。

15 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

16 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。

17 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

18 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。