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Thousands in Niger Demand Abolition1 of Tax
In Niger, consumer and anti-poverty groups demonstrated again Saturday to demand the abolition of a value-added tax on basic goods and services. Neither the government nor protest leaders are making progress toward resolving the crisis.
Several thousand people marched through the streets of Niger's capital, Niamey, toward parliament, protesting a tax that has increased the price of staples2 like milk, rice and sugar by 19 percent.
The protesters loudly denounced the supporters of the tax in government, whom they called "enemies of the people."
Saturday's march was the first to be held in the capital since the government banned street protests after demonstrations3 in March ended in violence.
Police were deployed4 on main roads to oversee5 marchers. In the northern town of Agadez, several protesters were reportedly injured when they clashed with police, but in Niamey, the protest went ahead without problems.
One of the protesters at the march in the capital said that the tax is not legitimate6, because people can no longer afford to live.
He said that the tax law must be abolished.
The leader of a group called the coalition7 for Quality and Fairness Against Costly8 Living, Nouhou Arzika, who was recently released from jail along with five other protest leaders, has helped lead a series of strikes and protests across Niger in the past month.
Mr. Arzika says that, if the government needs more funds, it should spend less and save money, and not impose the tax on the people. Eighty five percent of Nigeriens live on less than $2 a day.
A government spokesperson, Ben Omar Mohammed, says the government needs to raise money, in order to live up to the demands of the International Monetary9 Fund and regional banks.
Mr. Mohammed says that negotiations10 with the anti-tax movement's leaders began late Friday. But, he says, Niger's civil society continues to maintain an extreme position in demanding that the tax law be entirely11 abolished.
The tax has come at a particularly difficult time, when low rainfall and locust12 infestations13 have meant poor harvests for Nigeriens. The government estimates that over 3.5 million people could suffer food shortages in the coming year.
Gabi Menezes, VOA news, Abidjan.
注释:
Niger [5naidVE] n. 尼日尔(非洲中西部国家)
anti-poverty [5Anti5pCvEti] adj. 反贫穷的
abolition [AbE5liFEn] n. 废除
value-added tax (商品)增值税
Niamey [7nja:5mei] n. 尼亚美(尼日尔首都)
a series of 一连串的
live up to 实践,做到
regional bank 美国设在联邦储备区的联邦储备银行
rainfall [5reinfC:l] n. 降雨,降雨量
locust [5lEukEst] n. [动]蝗虫,蚱蜢
1 abolition | |
n.废除,取消 | |
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2 staples | |
n.(某国的)主要产品( staple的名词复数 );钉书钉;U 形钉;主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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3 demonstrations | |
证明( demonstration的名词复数 ); 表明; 表达; 游行示威 | |
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4 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 | |
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5 oversee | |
vt.监督,管理 | |
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6 legitimate | |
adj.合法的,合理的,合乎逻辑的;v.使合法 | |
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7 coalition | |
n.结合体,同盟,结合,联合 | |
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8 costly | |
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的 | |
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9 monetary | |
adj.货币的,钱的;通货的;金融的;财政的 | |
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10 negotiations | |
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过 | |
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11 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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12 locust | |
n.蝗虫;洋槐,刺槐 | |
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13 infestations | |
n.(害虫、盗贼等)群袭,出没,横行( infestation的名词复数 ) | |
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