VOA标准英语2011--Laos to Hold Legislative Elections

Laos to Hold Legislative¹ Elections

Laos goes to the polls Saturday to elect representatives to its legislative branch, known as the National Assembly.
On paper it is a body of lawmakers chosen by and for the people. But analysts² say in reality, the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party, a communist party, selects the candidates, who serve at its convenience.
Professor Martin Stuart-Fox is a specialist on Laos at the University of Queensland in Australia. He says the communist party controls all elections in Laos.
"Overwhelmingly, the people who stand for the National Assembly elections are members of the party," he says. "A few independents are allowed to stand, but they have been checked out by the party."
Stuart-Fox says the role of the National Assembly is to lend the party a pretense³ of democratic legitimacy⁴. He says its duties are supposed to include passing laws and choosing government leaders.
"But the names and who will serve have already been determined⁵ by the party. So, all the assembly does is simply to rubber stamp the decisions that the party has already made."
Nonetheless, Stuart-Fox says the party has allowed a slight improvement in the body's internal discussions. He says while in the past there was no real debate on issues, the National Assembly now, on occasion, addresses problems such as corruption⁶, a growing concern.
"And, this has been debated within the assembly without naming names, and, of course, nothing comes out of it in terms of prosecutions," he says. "But, it does signal the government's disquiet⁷ over the level of corruption."
Compared to its neighbors in Southeast Asia, Laos is small, poor, and landlocked, except for the Mekong River, which flows past its capital, Vientiane.
But the economy is growing rapidly, mainly from selling natural mineral and hydropower resources.
The influx⁸ of cash, and centralized power, has created opportunities for graft⁹.
But, ordinary people in Laos are also seeing benefits from increased investment and business, leading few to question the communist party's legitimacy.
Stuart-Fox says as long as the economy continues to grow the party will take credit for it.
"The problem has been that there has been increasing mal-distribution of wealth. So that most of the wealth that is generated by the improved economy ends up in the Mekong cities and so on. So there is still considerable poverty in the countryside," he says.
Laos is a former French colony of about seven million people and has been ruled by the communist party since 1975.

1 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。

2 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。

3 pretense   

n.矫饰，做作，借口

参考例句：

• You can't keep up the pretense any longer.你无法继续伪装下去了。
• Pretense invariably impresses only the pretender.弄虚作假欺骗不了真正的行家。

4 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 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。

7 disquiet   

n.担心，焦虑

参考例句：

• The disquiet will boil over in the long run.这种不安情绪终有一天会爆发的。
• Her disquiet made us uneasy too.她的忧虑使我们也很不安。

8 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

9 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。