VOA常速英语2008年-Malaysian Parliament Dissolved, Elections to Be

By Claudia Blume
Hong Kong
13 February 2008

Malaysia's prime minister has set the stage for early elections by dissolving Parliament. The vote will likely be held before opposition¹ leader Anwar Ibrahim is eligible² to run for office.  Claudia Blume reports from Hong Kong, where Anwar spoke³ to the media.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the dissolution of Parliament on Wednesday in Putrajaya, the administrative⁴ capital near Kuala Lumpur.

Mr. Abdullah says this will allow general elections to be held as stated in the constitution.

A date for the vote has not been set, but the elections are expected within the next few weeks. Elections are not due until the middle of 2009, when Mr. Abdullah's five-year term expires.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim says the prime minister is calling early elections to prevent him from running for office.  Once Malaysia's deputy prime minister, Anwar was removed from office and jailed in 1998 on sodomy and corruption⁵ charges.  The sodomy charge was overturned but his corruption conviction bars him from politics until April this year.

Speaking to journalists in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Anwar said he plans to start his political comeback through a by-election later this year.

"Knowing this dirty trick of the government to deny me my right to participate, what we plan to do is to devise a strategy where we chose about 20 constituencies where the candidates will opt⁶ to resign in the event they win, and I would then be able to contest in a by-election," Anwar said.

Prime Minister Abdullah's Barisan Nasional coalition⁷, in power since Malaysia gained independence more than 50 years ago, expects to win a two-thirds majority in the upcoming elections.  But, Anwar says his Keadilan, or "justice" party and its two coalition partners have other plans.

"I am confident that we will start this campaign by denying the ruling Barisan Nasional government two-thirds majority, which means that we would achieve safely about 70 parliamentary seats," Anwar said.

The ruling coalition won 90 percent of the seats in Parliament in Malaysia's last elections in 2004.

In recent months, the government has been rocked by a series of issues - an embarrassing sex scandal involving a Cabinet minister, inflation, alleged⁸ corruption in the judiciary, and rare protests by ethnic⁹ Indians over alleged discrimination.

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 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

5 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。

6 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

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 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

9 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。