VOA常速英语2007年-Bush Tells Musharraf to Hold Elections, Resign

By Meredith Buel
Washington
07 November 2007
 

President Bush says he has personally told Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that he must hold parliamentary elections and resign his post as head of the nation's army. The president's remarks came on the same day former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto called on her supporters to rally in the streets against the government's decision to suspend the constitution and impose emergency rule. VOA correspondent Meredith Buel has details from Washington.

 

In what he described as a very frank phone conversation, President Bush says he told General Musharraf that he could not be president and head of the military at the same time.

Mr. Bush says he told Mr. Musharraf that he should hold elections soon and should take off his uniform before being sworn in for his second term as president.

President Bush's remarks came as Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte told members of the U.S. Congress that the partnership¹ between America and Pakistan is important.

"President Musharraf has been an indispensable ally in the global war on terrorism, a leader who extremists and radicals² have tried to assassinate³ multiple times," said John Negroponte. "Since 9/11 Pakistan's government and security forces have captured or killed more al-Qaida operatives and Taleban militants⁴ than any other country."

In Pakistan, police clashed with supporters of opposition⁵ leader Benazir Bhutto after she announced plans for massive protests against emergency rule imposed by General Musharraf.

"Our country is in danger from the extremism that has spread and a dictatorship," said Benazir Bhutto. "We believe that we can save our country by saving democracy."

Hundreds of Ms. Bhutto's supporters clashed with police outside Pakistan's parliament in Islamabad.

The former prime minister urged her supporters to defy the ban on demonstrations⁷ and to attend her party's next protest in Rawalpindi on Friday.

Teresita Schaffer, the director of the South Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the demonstration⁶ will be significant.

"I think what happens Friday will be very important," said Teresita Schaffer. "The lawyers have taken a very strong stand, but no big social movement in Pakistan can be sustained just by lawyers. The rally on Friday will be the first opportunity to see whether large numbers of people will come out on the streets and how the government will respond. The government has already said it is going to break it up."

Ms. Bhutto has left open the possibility of resuming talks with President Musharraf, providing he steps down from his military post and restores plans for January elections.

Daniel Markey, a senior South Asia specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, says the time for creating a political partnership between Ms. Bhutto and President Musharraf is growing short.

"With every passing day of emergency rule and rising protests it makes the two of them coming together as a coalition⁸ that much harder because the public opposition to Musharraf will grow and her capacity to manage that opposition will shrink," said Daniel Markey. "So they have to move quickly to cement a relationship between them to make that work."

Since General Musharraf suspended the constitution and assumed emergency powers, he has ousted⁹ independent-minded judges, shut down privately¹⁰ owned media and granted security services sweeping¹¹ powers to crush dissent¹².

Teresita Schaffer of the Center for Strategic and International Studies says Ms. Bhutto's call for a large rally on Friday sets up the potential for a major confrontation¹³.

"I am concerned about people getting hurt, but I do think that having large numbers of people in the streets is something that is going to have an impact," she said. "Conversely, if there are not very many people in the streets I think the government will conclude that it does not need to worry about protests."

Ms. Schaefer points out that when General Musharraf suspended the constitution he said he was doing so because of extremist attacks and interference from the judiciary in fighting terrorism.

Since then, she says, he has cracked down on lawyers, human rights activists¹⁴, journalists and other members of civil society.

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

3 assassinate   

vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤

参考例句：

• The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

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 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

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 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。

9 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

10 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

11 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？

12 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

13 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

14 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》