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VOA慢速英语2014 阿富汗总统候选人同意分享权力

时间:2014-09-27 22:25:43

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AS IT IS 2014-09-27 Afghan Presidential Candidates Agree to Share Power 阿富汗总统候选人同意分享权力

This week Afghanistan ended months of dispute over the country's presidential election. The United States helped negotiate a power-sharing agreement between the top two presidential candidates. Under the agreement, the Afghan politician and economist1 Ashraf Ghani will become president. His opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, will hold a new position called “chief executive.”

Critics question whether this agreement is strong enough to solve the many problems facing Afghanistan. The two men will take office just as international troops are preparing to leave the country.

Afghanistan's elections started in April. In June, voters got to choose between the two men who received the most votes in the April elections. For months, the results were not clear as the United Nations investigated reports of cheating.

The political battle ended earlier this week when Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah agreed on a power-sharing deal. The deal requires election officials to keep the results of the June runoff vote secret.

For now, the agreement has ended the election dispute. But critics say it has hurt Afghanistan’s young democracy.

The Transparent2 Election Foundation of Afghanistan deployed3 thousands of observers across the country to make sure the voting was fair. Naeem Ayubzada is the head of the group.

"The political agreement solved the current situations but undermined the credibility and all the achievements regarding the technical process. It hurt the process; it hurt the transparency and it hurt the principles for the elections."

On Monday, President-elect Ghani promised Afghans that he would form a strong and united government with Mr. Abdullah. Mr. Ghani said the new government will take responsibility for all its decisions. He rejected criticism of being the president of a "two-headed government."

Naeem Ayubzada questions the president’s claims and fears the two men may start arguing again.

"We do have concerns about the political crisis of Afghanistan because there are two bosses and the concern is that these two big players will be busy with their own things and will not focus on the people and will not focus on other developments we need to have for the future five years.”

Under the deal, the two men will decide together who will hold important positions in finance and security. The chief executive will report to the president, but both men are responsible for making sure policies are carried out.

Kate Clark is with the Afghanistan Analysts4 Network. She has studied Afghan politics for many years. She worries that the deal will not bring good governance and lasting5 peace to the country.

"There is relief that it’s over for now but that is very, very short term relief. There is not a great—there is not a great sense of optimism that this will work out very well. It’s felt like people in charge, the politicians are actually more concerned about getting their own seats, getting their own positions than they have been about the future of the country, that’s the impression that has been given."

Kate Clark says young Afghan voters are tired after years of conflict. Those voters took a strong interest in the presidential elections. But she says the secretive power-sharing deal weakens the election process.

"Millions of people turned out to vote, you then have a deal done behind closed doors that the people have not been informed about. And I think that also shows what has been lost this summer, the sense of active participation6. It’s fairly new in Afghanistan, it doesn’t have a great history of democracy but you did get a sense that people were coming out to vote and in some cases risking their lives and to come out and vote, and now they are turned back into passive people who don't—don’t have a say and are not even consulted in what—what’s going on."

She also says the large number of voters surprised many critics and angered the Taliban. Gaining popular support is important for defeating rebel groups. But, she says, the power-sharing agreement makes the Taliban less likely to negotiate an end to the war.

"And what we have got now, all that goodwill7, that freshness, that motivation, I would say has been lost. I would say at the moment the main problem with getting the Taliban to stop fighting is that whereas earlier on in the year the Afghan state looked like it was going to emerge strong, united with a popular democratic mandate8 . . .as an opponent that was to be feared. What’s instead happened is that the state is a lot weaker, a lot more contested. And if you’re the Taliban and you are making a political calculation as to what will suit you best, earlier in the year you might have been thinking about talks, now I am sure you’ll be thinking about fighting."

Ashraf Ghani will officially become president next Monday. He will replace President Hamid Karzai, who held the position for 13 years.

The new government will face serious budget and security issues. The government will also have to decide if it will sign a security agreement with the United States. Mr. Kazai has refused to sign the proposed deal. Under the measure, U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan past the end of 2014.


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1 economist AuhzVs     
n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人
参考例句:
  • He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
  • He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家,自以为什么都懂。
2 transparent Smhwx     
adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的
参考例句:
  • The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明,可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
  • The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。
3 deployed 4ceaf19fb3d0a70e329fcd3777bb05ea     
(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。
4 analysts 167ff30c5034ca70abe2d60a6e760448     
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。
5 lasting IpCz02     
adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持
参考例句:
  • The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
  • We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。
6 participation KS9zu     
n.参与,参加,分享
参考例句:
  • Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
  • The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。
7 goodwill 4fuxm     
n.善意,亲善,信誉,声誉
参考例句:
  • His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
  • We paid £10,000 for the shop,and £2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店,两千英镑买下了它的信誉。
8 mandate sj9yz     
n.托管地;命令,指示
参考例句:
  • The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
  • The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

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