VOA常速英语2007年-Pakistan's Opposition Rejects New Caretaker Gov

By Barry Newhouse
Islamabad
16 November 2007

A caretaker government has been installed in Pakistan to oversee¹ parliamentary elections in January. But as VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad, political opposition² parties are dismissing the new government, saying free elections are not possible under any government as long as emergency rule remains³ in place.

 

President Pervez Musharraf swore in Senate chairman Mohammadmian Soomro, a close political ally, as the head of Pakistan's caretaker government Friday. The president administered the oath of office to key officials, whose main duty will be to oversee elections expected in early January.

General Musharraf has pledged that the interim⁴ government will be impartial⁵, but key positions have been filled with loyalists from his PML-Q party.

Faratullah Babar is a spokesman for the Pakistan People's Party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He predicts neither the new government nor the elections will be impartial.

"We have been asking for free and fair elections, and under the conditions of martial⁶ law, free and fair election are not possible - even if they are set up with the caretaker government," he noted⁷. "And this government is a clone of the PML-Q."

Ms. Bhutto was freed from house arrest early Friday, and later held a news conference in Lahore. Independent television stations, some of which were allowed to resume domestic broadcasting on Thursday for the first time since the November 3 emergency decree, relayed some of her comments.

Ms. Bhutto said her party would not hold talks with "dictators" - an apparent reference to General Musharraf. She said since he took power in a 1999 military coup⁸, he had undermined not only democracy, but also the war on terrorism.

"After 9/11, I went on Fox television, I went on CNN, I wrote articles, saying we need regime change in Pakistan first," she said. "Because if we don't have regime change in Pakistan, the Taliban will regroup. Al-Qaida will regroup."

Ms. Bhutto has called for the president to step down. She said much of the foreign aid sent to Pakistan during his tenure⁹ has been wasted, and Islamic militants¹⁰ have only grown stronger.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is expected to hold talks with senior Pakistani officials in Islamabad on Saturday. The U.S. diplomat¹¹ is expected to push General Musharraf to end emergency rule and free thousands of detained opposition figures.

1 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

2 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。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

5 impartial   

adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的

参考例句：

• He gave an impartial view of the state of affairs in Ireland.他对爱尔兰的事态发表了公正的看法。
• Careers officers offer impartial advice to all pupils.就业指导员向所有学生提供公正无私的建议。

6 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

9 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

10 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。

11 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。