VOA常速英语2007年-Few Surprises Expected in Jordan Election Amid

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
15 November 2007

Voters in Jordan go to the polls next week to choose a new parliament. But a key Islamist opposition¹ party is accusing the government of intending to rig the poll, and secular² critics say the entire electoral system needs to be reformed. VOA's Challiss McDonough has more from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

There is a noticeable lack of excitement over Tuesday's parliamentary elections in Jordan, an absolute monarchy³ in which parliament has little power.

The director of the Amman-based al-Quds Center for Political Studies, political analyst⁴ Oraib al-Rantawi, says there is little suspense⁵ about the outcome of the polls. He predicts the elections will produce a carbon copy of the current parliament.

"Anyway, I do not think we have hot elections nowadays," he said. "I think the results of more than 78 percent of the seats in the next parliament is very obvious, very clear from now, even the week before the voting day. There is no serious political competition in this election."

He says most of the candidates are either tribal⁶ nominees⁷ with ties to the government or retired⁸ members of the military or security services.

The only opposition party with a chance to make an impact is the Islamic Action Front, the political wing of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood⁹, which is fielding only 22 candidates. The party said earlier this week that it expects fraud.

Former Islamic Action Front secretary general Hamza Mansour is now a member of the party's ruling Shura Council.

He says many Jordanians are apathetic¹⁰ about the elections because of the electoral system and "because of the forgery¹¹ that occurred during municipal elections."

The Islamic Action Front boycotted¹² the July municipal elections, in which there were allegations the government brought soldiers to certain districts in buses and instructed them to vote for pro-government candidates.

Under a directive from the king, the government has pledged to run a clean, free and fair parliamentary poll, but it is clear that some members of the opposition do not believe the promise.

Meanwhile, several candidates are being investigated for vote-buying, and some of the government's critics have been banned from running, including the popular former lawmaker Toujon al-Faisal.

Most of the seats in parliament come from constituencies in rural tribal areas, not from the cities where most Jordanians live, meaning that the tribal districts are over-represented. A lawmaker elected in a rural constituency will usually represent only 2,000 or 3,000 voters, while each member of parliament from the capital represents about 95,000.

Many critics have for years been calling for changes to Jordan's electoral system, but planned government reforms have been scrapped¹³.

Rantawi of the Al-Quds Center advocates a mixed system, combining district-based constituencies with party- or coalition-based proportional representation. He says this would strengthen Jordan's political parties and help invigorate its civil society.

"We suffer from a lack of serious political elite¹⁴ in Jordan, the weakness of the political parties," he said. "Because if the tribe is your shortcut¹⁵ to the parliament, why do you bother yourself and go to a political party or create a political party?"

Several civic¹⁶ groups have trained hundreds of poll monitors, but it is not clear how closely they will be allowed to observe the voting.

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 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

3 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。

4 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。

5 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

6 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

7 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

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 apathetic   

adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的

参考例句：

• I realised I was becoming increasingly depressed and apathetic.我意识到自己越来越消沉、越来越冷漠了。
• You won't succeed if you are apathetic.要是你冷淡，你就不能成功。

11 forgery   

n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为）

参考例句：

• The painting was a forgery.这张画是赝品。
• He was sent to prison for forgery.他因伪造罪而被关进监狱。

12 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。

13 scrapped   

废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词)； 打架

参考例句：

• This machine is so old that it will soon have to be scrapped. 这架机器太旧，快报废了。
• It had been thought that passport controls would be scrapped. 人们曾认为会放开护照管制。

14 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

15 shortcut   

n.近路，捷径

参考例句：

• He was always looking for a shortcut to fame and fortune.他总是在找成名发财的捷径。
• If you take the shortcut,it will be two li closer.走抄道去要近2里路。

16 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。