VOA标准英语2009年-Iraqi Parliament Approves New Electoral La

By Edward Yeranian
Cairo
08 November 2009

The Iraqi parliament has approved a long delayed electoral law, amid bitter quarrels among Arab, Kurdish and Turkomen politicians.  The electoral law is necessary for parliamentary elections to be held close to their original scheduled date on January 16th.

Following an unusually bitter and raucous¹ debate, the Iraqi parliament has approved a new electoral law that sets the framework for parliamentary elections due to be held in January.

The vote follows a last-minute compromise and hours of back-room dealings that kept observers and the parties themselves holding their breath until the final clause by clause vote was cast.

Iraqi TV reported that going into the vote further conflict had erupted, despite an earlier compromise, but the last-minute dispute was resolved and most parliament members raised their hands to approve the electoral law.

The key stumbling block that had legislators feuding² for weeks was the complex issue of who would represent the ethnically³ divided, oil rich city of Kirkuk.

An alliance of Sunni Arab politicians was pushing to divide seats equally in Kirkuk between Arabs, Kurds and Turcomen, while a Kurdish coalition⁴ was pushing to use a 2009 electoral roll, reflecting recent growth in the city's Kurdish population.

Legislator Selim Jebbari of the Sunni Arab Iraqi Islamic Party insisted the compromise fit the circumstances. He said his side did not get everything that it wanted out of this deal and we could have held out longer to gain more points, but it seeme d like the best deal.

Member of parliament Mohsen Saadoun of the Kurdish Alliance also tried to paint a positive picture.

He says the vote to approve the electoral law, today, indicates that everyone that participated in this debate has finally succeeded in achieving success, which is in Iraq's national interest.

As weeks of logjam threatened to go unresolved, the head of Iraq's Electoral Committee, Faraj al-Haidari, warned Iraqi politicians that it would become impossible to hold parliamentary elections in January if they did not approve the new electoral law.

A lengthy⁵ election delay could also have hindered plans by the United States to withdraw its forces from Iraq during the course of 2010.

 

1 raucous   

adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的

参考例句：

• I heard sounds of raucous laughter upstairs.我听见楼上传来沙哑的笑声。
• They heard a bottle being smashed,then more raucous laughter.他们听见酒瓶摔碎的声音，然后是一阵更喧闹的笑声。

2 feuding   

vi.长期不和（feud的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Riccardo and Cafiero had been feuding so openly that the whole town knew about it. 里卡多和卡菲埃罗一直公开地闹别扭，全城的人都知道此事。 来自辞典例句
• The two families have been feuding with each other for many generations. 这两个家族有好多代的世仇了。 来自互联网

3 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。