VOA常速英语2008年-Thailand Swears In New Cabinet Stacked With Tha

By Luis Ramirez
Bangkok
06 February 2008

Thailand's new cabinet has been approved, putting in place the first elected government since the military ousted¹ former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. As VOA's Luis Ramirez reports from Bangkok, the new cabinet is stacked with Mr. Thaksin's supporters, who are taking steps to prevent any new intervention² by the military.

King Bhumipol Adulyadej approved the cabinet nominees³ Wednesday afternoon.

The new prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, assumes a double role - also serving as defense⁴ minister. The move is seen as a means to keep the military in check.

Mr. Samak and a number of others in the cabinet are close allies of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. After his ouster in 2006, a military-installed government dissolved his Thai Rak Thai Party and banned him from politics for five years. Mr. Thaksin - exiled since the coup⁵ - has been watching events at home from Hong Kong.

Prime Minister Samak has openly pledged his loyalty⁶ to Mr. Thaksin, but insists he is not a puppet for the exiled leader. In a recent exclusive interview with VOA, Mr. Samak said he is in close contact with Mr. Thaksin.

"He (has) no role. It is by law (that) he cannot enter into politics for five years," the prime minister said. "But anyhow, for non-official (matters), we can talk to each other. We cannot appoint him for any kind of thing. But for me, I can personally consult him for any kind of things, yes."

A Supreme⁷ Court decision last month cleared Mr. Samak's People Power Party of election fraud charges after opponents accused the party of running as a proxy⁸ for Mr. Thaksin. The party, which won the largest number of parliament seats in December, then formed a coalition⁹ with five other parties.

Other key cabinet posts are now in the hands of Mr. Thaksin's allies. Nopidon Pattama, the new foreign minister, for example, is his lawyer.

 

Some political analysts¹⁰ think it is only a matter of time before the coalition government takes steps to bring Mr. Thaksin back and exonerate¹¹ him of a pending¹² fraud charge.

He was forced from office after months of public protests backed by the military and the Bangkok elite¹³ who accused his administration of corruption¹⁴, cronyism¹⁵, and disrespect to the king. Mr. Thaksin, however, remains¹⁶ very popular among lower-income and rural voters.

1 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。

2 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

3 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

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 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。

6 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

7 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。

8 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

9 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。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

11 exonerate   

v.免除责任，确定无罪

参考例句：

• Nothing can exonerate her from that.任何解释都难辞其咎。
• There is no reason to exonerate him from the ordinary duties of a citizen.没有理由免除他做公民应尽的义务。

12 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

13 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。

14 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

15 cronyism   

n.任人唯亲，对好朋友的偏袒

参考例句：

• Many small town mayor and city official practice cronyism.许多小镇的市长和大城市的官员都有任人唯亲的行为。
• Bringing business people into politics can also produce corruption and cronyism.商人从政也容易带来腐败和任人唯亲。

16 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。