2007年VOA标准英语-Few Voters Turn Out for Syrian Parliamentary El

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
22 April 2007

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A Syrian woman puts her vote in the ballot box at a polling station in Damascus, Syria, 22 Apr 2007

Syrian voters are going to the polls Sunday and Monday to elect a new parliament. But widespread apathy² appeared to keep turnout low, as was widely expected. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

Turnout appeared to be low on the first day of voting, with only a trickle³ of voters arriving at polling stations.

Opposition⁴ parties are boycotting⁵ the poll, but that is not seen as the major reason voters were staying home. Simple apathy is regarded as the bigger culprit, with few Syrians seeing this as an election that will make any difference.

The Syrian parliament does not actually write or even modify legislation, it simply debates and ratifies⁶ decisions made by the cabinet. Of the 250 seats in the assembly, about two-thirds are reserved for the governing coalition⁷, known as the National Progressive Front, which consists of the ruling Baath party and a handful of smaller allies.

That means that the only real competition on election day is among independent candidates, mostly businessmen with close ties to the ruling party - for the remaining third of the seats. All of those candidates must be approved by the authorities in order to get onto the ballots⁸.

Omayma Abdel Latif, an Egyptian journalist and the projects coordinator⁹ for the Carnegie Endowment's Middle East Center in Beirut, who recently returned from Damascus and says there was little enthusiasm on the streets for the vote.

"The average Syrians are basically very much burdened with economic hardships, and trying to make ends meet," said Omayma Abdel Latif. "Elections, there is a popular apathy, of course, because they know that at the end of the day it is not going to sort of make a difference. For them to care about their economic situation is much more important than to care about an election that is not going to change the status quo at all."

Syrian officials have angrily rejected criticism of their electoral process from the State Department, which called the vote meaningless. But during the election campaign Abdel Latif said, she was intrigued¹⁰ to see a small window open for domestic criticism of the electoral system.

The state-run newspapers have carried a number of articles and editorial cartoons criticizing the independent candidates' empty campaign promises and failure to put forward detailed¹¹ political programs.

"For the first time in elections in Syria, we are seeing a debate that is being initiated¹² by the state-run newspapers that is sort of questioning the lack of any serious platform on the part of the independent candidates," she continued. "Hopefully that kind of questioning will lead the Syrian electorate¹³ to also question the lack of any serious platform on the part of the alliance itself, and to begin questioning the whole process."

Voting continues Monday, with results expected Tuesday or Wednesday. One of the first tasks of the new parliament will be approving the Baath Party nomination¹⁴ for the re-election of President Bashar Assad.

1 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。

2 apathy   

n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡

参考例句：

• He was sunk in apathy after his failure.他失败后心恢意冷。
• She heard the story with apathy.她听了这个故事无动于衷。

3 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

4 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。

5 boycotting   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They're boycotting the shop because the people there are on strike. 他们抵制那家商店，因为那里的店员在罢工。
• The main opposition parties are boycotting the elections. 主要反对党都抵制此次选举。

6 ratifies   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• American Revolutionary War: The United States ratifies a peace treaty with England. 1784年的今天，美国独立战争：美国批准了一项与英国的和平条约。 来自互联网
• Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall ensure the effectiveapplication of its provis ions. 批准本公约的每一会员国应确保有效地实施本公约的规定。 来自互联网

7 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。

8 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》

9 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

10 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

11 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

12 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

13 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

14 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。