VOA常速英语2008年-Election Sets Pakistan Into Uncharted Waters

By Gary Thomas
Washington
19 February 2008
 

Initial returns in Pakistan's elections show that the party of slain¹ opposition² leader Benazir Bhutto has won the largest number of seats in parliament, the party of its long-standing rival has come in second place, and the ruling party is lagging in third. As VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, now the jockeying for power begins.

Winning a parliamentary election is a relative term if you gain the largest number of seats but fall short of a clear majority. Such an outcome requires the top vote-getter to shop around for a coalition³ partner. But for the Pakistan People's Party, or PPP, the choices in that shop are limited.

Monday's election was widely seen as a referendum on President Pervez Musharraf, who has ruled Pakistan since taking power in a bloodless coup⁴ in 1999. Voters clearly showed their disapproval⁵ of Mr. Musharraf. His party, the the PML-Q, came in third behind the PPP and the PML-N, the party of former-prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

But, despite his party's poor showing, Mr. Musharraf remains⁶ president. He won re-election last year by an electoral college of the national and provincial⁷ assemblies that was stacked with his supporters. Farzana Shaikh, a South Asia analyst⁸ at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, says his fate is in the hands of the two remaining major political parties.

"These are all early days. President Musharraf is clearly under immense pressure at the moment. There have been calls for his resignation. I don't believe he is going to go down without a fight. But, really, I think we have to wait to see what kind of agreement the two major parties can come to between themselves," he said.

PPP chairman Asif Zardari, husband of the party's murdered leader Benazir Bhutto, says he wants the Sharif-led party to join the PPP in a governing coalition. But analysts⁹ say that will be difficult. The two parties have little in common except a shared distaste for Mr. Musharraf and have a history of animosity dating back to the 1990s, when the prime ministers' chair alternated between Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Sharif until Mr. Musharraf took power.

To complicate¹⁰ matters, Zardari is a controversial figure even within the PPP. Former State Department officer Daniel Markey, a South Asia analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, says it will be a tough task for Zardari to sell a power-sharing deal to the party faithful. "Asif Zardari is already facing a lot of potential for fissures¹¹ within the party. Zardari is by no means a recognized leader in the way that Benazir Bhutto was. He has to watch his back within the party, he has to avoid a complete breakdown," he said.

Zardari did not run for parliament himself. If the PPP and Nawaz Sharif's party link up, the PPP would likely put up longtime party stalwart Makhdoom Amin Fahim as candidate for prime minister.

The two parties together would still not be able to command the two-thirds majority necessary to impeach¹² Mr. Musharraf. But Farzana Shaikh points out that they could circumvent¹³ the impeachment¹⁴ route by voting to reinstate the judges Mr. Musharraf fired last year. "That would mean that a case could immediately be filed in the restored courts and the verdict could then possibly go against President Musharraf, declaring his re-election as unconstitutional and illegal," he said.

Many analysts believe that Mr. Musharraf's only chance for political survival is if he tries to drive a wedge between the PPP and the PML-N But does Mr. Musharraf, who ruled unchallenged until last year, have the political will to put up a fight against a newly elected and reinvigorated opposition? Some analysts believe that if he sees the deck is stacked against him, he could decide to just quit the game and resign.

1 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

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 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。

4 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。

5 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

6 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。

7 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。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 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。

10 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

11 fissures   

n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Rising molten rock flows out on the ocean floor and caps the fissures, trapping the water. 上升熔岩流到海底并堵住了裂隙，结果把海水封在里面。 来自辞典例句
• The French have held two colloquia and an international symposium on rock fissures. 法国已经开了两次岩石裂缝方面的报告会和一个国际会议。 来自辞典例句

12 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。

13 circumvent   

vt.环绕，包围；对…用计取胜，智胜

参考例句：

• Military planners tried to circumvent the treaty.军事策略家们企图绕开这一条约。
• Any action I took to circumvent his scheme was justified.我为斗赢他的如意算盘而采取的任何行动都是正当的。

14 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。