VOA常速英语2008年-Pakistan Prepares for Crucial Elections

By Meredith Buel
Rawalpindi
15 February 2008

Voters in Pakistan go to the polls Monday in one of the most crucial elections in the South Asian nation's 60-year history. The elections to four provincial¹ assemblies and the lower house of Parliament come amid a wave of violence and uncertainty² following the assassination³ of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. VOA correspondent Meredith Buel previews the election in this report from Rawalpindi.

Everywhere you turn in the famous Raja Bazaar⁴ market in Rawalpindi there are signs of the upcoming elections. Giant posters are everywhere. Small groups representing different political parties hand out literature to the swarms⁵ of shoppers. Parades of banner waving activists⁶ clog⁷ the already overcrowded streets.

While the campaigning is colorful, the reaction from most Pakistanis has been remarkably⁸ subdued⁹.

The assassination here in Rawalpindi of opposition¹⁰ leader Benazir Bhutto last December, and a wave of violence and suicide bombings that followed, appear to have poisoned the political atmosphere.

The death of the former prime minister has robbed the opposition of its most popular leader and cast a pall¹¹ over the electoral process.

The director of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative¹² Development and Transparency, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, says many people are frightened by the violence and may be too scared to vote.

"Following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto a feeling, a factor of fear has come into the politics and electioneering in the country," he said. "So in general, a voter is very reluctant to be a part of the electioneering and therefore the chances are that relatively¹³ less number of voters will be coming out to vote on the day of election."

Mehboob's organization has been monitoring the run up to the election for the last 14 months, a period he says that has been very unfair to the opposition.

He says the caretaker government and the state-run media are heavily biased¹⁴ in favor of Pakistan Muslim League-Q, the main political party backing President Pervez Musharraf.

Independent institutions, including television news channels, the judiciary and the legal establishment are still suffering from the impact of Mr. Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule in November that lasted six weeks.

President Musharraf, however, has repeatedly promised the elections will be free and fair.

He says the world's attention is on Pakistan, and has indicated there is too much at stake to rig the elections.

"The world is watching us. The national prestige is at stake," he said. "Peace and harmony is at stake and our future is at stake."

Recent polls indicate Mr. Musharraf's popularity is at an all-time low, and opposition parties like Ms. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League faction¹⁵ led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, are expected to do well on election day.

Rifaat Hussain, a professor at Qaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, says if parties backing Mr. Musharraf do well, most Pakistanis will believe the results are rigged.

"Precisely¹⁶ because his popularity has dipped so low and the two mainstream¹⁷ political parties are expected to win the forthcoming parliamentary elections, there is a very strong belief that just to make sure of his own survival he will encourage the PML-Q, the king's party, to actually engage in some kind of rigging so the two mainstream political parties will not be able to come together and form a government which would be so opposed to his own rule," he said.

Mr. Musharraf's presidency¹⁸ is not being contested in this election, but if opposition parties win a two-thirds majority in parliament, they would have enough votes to impeach¹⁹ him.

Election observer Ahmed Bilal Mehboob expects violence to erupt if people believe the election results are manipulated.

"So we fear that if there is a perception and if there is a reality of some wrongdoing on the day of the election, the reaction is going to be very violent," he said. "It is something which may destabilize the political system of Pakistan."

Tens of thousands of troops have been deployed²⁰ across Pakistan to improve security before the elections.

They will be in place if riots breakout after the results are announced.

Jawed²¹ Iqbal Cheema is the spokesman for Pakistan's Interior Ministry²².

"All these arrangements have been made to insure that people cast their vote without any fear in an environment of peace and order," he said. "Nobody will be allowed to disrupt the polling process or create any law and order situation. Anyone trying to hinder the process shall be dealt with very sternly."

While terrorism tops the concerns of many Pakistanis, more basic worries like rising prices, a shortage of basic goods and power outages that last for hours confront all but the very wealthy here.

Tanvir Hussain, a small businessman from the village of Noorpur Shahn, says most Pakistanis are struggling.

"The condition of the common person is so miserable," he said. "Everything is so expensive and commodities which the people use, their price has become double and it is so difficult for a person to survive in the present circumstances."

The question after the election is whether Pakistan will unite behind the new parliament or disintegrate²³ into chaos²⁴.

Retired²⁵ Major General Jamshed Ayaz Khan, the president of the independent Institute for Regional Studies, says the country must come together.

"Like with India and Pakistan, we have no choice, but to have peace. War we have tried for 60 years," he said. "So similarly now, this being the mother of all elections, the stability of the country being at stake, the outside powers watching you with very, very hawkish²⁶ eyes, everybody looking at you, we have to insure that we put our act together and there is unity²⁷."

Monday's vote is seen as key to Pakistan's transition to democracy after eight years of military rule under President Musharraf.

Political analysts²⁸ will be closely watching the returns here in Punjab, Pakistan's largest province.

Punjab accounts for more than half of the National Assembly seats and is considered the major battleground in Monday's election.

1 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

2 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

3 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

4 bazaar   

n.集市，商店集中区

参考例句：

• Chickens,goats and rabbits were offered for barter at the bazaar.在集市上，鸡、山羊和兔子被摆出来作物物交换之用。
• We bargained for a beautiful rug in the bazaar.我们在集市通过讨价还价买到了一条很漂亮的地毯。

5 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 clog   

vt.塞满，阻塞；n.[常pl.]木屐

参考例句：

• In cotton and wool processing,short length fibers may clog sewers.在棉毛生产中，短纤维可能堵塞下水管道。
• These streets often clog during the rush hour.这几条大街在交通高峰时间常常发生交通堵塞。

8 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

9 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

10 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。

11 pall   

v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕

参考例句：

• Already the allure of meals in restaurants had begun to pall.饭店里的饭菜已经不像以前那样诱人。
• I find his books begin to pall on me after a while.我发觉他的书读过一阵子就开始对我失去吸引力。

12 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

13 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

14 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

15 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

16 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

17 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

18 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

19 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

20 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

21 jawed   

adj.有颌的有颚的

参考例句：

• The color of the big-jawed face was high. 那张下颚宽阔的脸上气色很好。 来自辞典例句
• She jawed him for making an exhibition of himself, scolding as though he were a ten-year-old. 她连声怪他这样大出洋相，拿他当十岁的孩子似的数落。 来自辞典例句

22 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

23 disintegrate   

v.瓦解，解体，（使）碎裂，（使）粉碎

参考例句：

• The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。
• The plane would probably disintegrate at that high speed.飞机以那么高速飞行也许会四分五裂。

24 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

25 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。

26 hawkish   

adj. 鹰派的, 强硬派的

参考例句：

• My staff's advice that first day was amazingly hawkish. 在第一天，我的僚属们的意见是令人吃惊的鹰派意见。
• Antiwar groups fear Barack Obama may create hawkish Cabinet. 反战团体担心巴拉克·奥巴马可以创建强硬派内阁。

27 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

28 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。