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(单词翻译)
By Scott Bobb
Bangkok
24 April 2006
A Thai man rests on a bench as others monitor the senate election results being displayed on a giant board outside city hall in Bangkok, April 20, 2006
In Thailand, uncertainty1 continues over the fate of the new parliament after by-elections failed to fill 14 seats that were left vacant because of an opposition2 boycott3 of nationwide elections three weeks ago. Election officials say they are trying to hold another round of voting before a constitutional deadline next week for parliament to open.
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The Thai Election Commission Monday announced that by-elections Sunday in 40 districts had filled more than half the vacant seats in the lower house of parliament. But a third round of voting will be needed in at least 14 districts where no candidates had obtained the 20 percent of votes needed to win a seat.
The three main opposition parties boycotted4 the elections, saying they could not be fair because the ruling party of Thaksin Shinawatra dominates regulatory agencies such as the Election Commission and constitutional courts.
Mr. Thaksin was re-elected prime minister by a landslide5 last year but he called snap elections for April 2nd after months of demonstrations6 by protesters who accuse his government of corruption7 and abuse of power. He denies the allegations.
His Thai Rak Thai party won 56 percent of the vote, but one-third of the voters delivered a strong protest by casting abstention ballots8. Two days after the election, Mr. Thaksin said he was taking a leave of absence from politics and would not be a candidate for prime minister in the new parliament.
A political science professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, says Thai politics are entering uncharted territory.
"It's important to try to maintain and to bolster9 constitutional rule in the months ahead and try to get back to the democratic rules of the game," he said.
The constitution says parliament must convene10 within 30 days of the election - by May 1, but it also says that parliament cannot meet until all seats are filled.
Because the vacant seats are not likely to be filled by another vote, the ruling party is likely to ask the courts to decide whether parliament can open anyway.
A political editor with the Nations media group, Thepchai Yong, says such a move will aggravate11 the confrontation12 with the opposition.
"Any attempt by the ruling Thai Rak Thai party to open the house for the first meeting to elect a prime minister will certainly trigger another round of protests," said Thepchai Yong.
The opposition wants a neutral government to be appointed that will oversee13 constitutional reform and new elections.
However Mr. Thaksin's supporters want the new parliament to oversee the process. They view the opposition's tactics as un-democratic.
1 uncertainty | |
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物 | |
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2 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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3 boycott | |
n./v.(联合)抵制,拒绝参与 | |
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4 boycotted | |
抵制,拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5 landslide | |
n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票;一面倒的胜利 | |
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6 demonstrations | |
证明( demonstration的名词复数 ); 表明; 表达; 游行示威 | |
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7 corruption | |
n.腐败,堕落,贪污 | |
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8 ballots | |
n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 );选举;选票;投票总数v.(使)投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 ) | |
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9 bolster | |
n.枕垫;v.支持,鼓励 | |
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10 convene | |
v.集合,召集,召唤,聚集,集合 | |
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11 aggravate | |
vt.加重(剧),使恶化;激怒,使恼火 | |
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12 confrontation | |
n.对抗,对峙,冲突 | |
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13 oversee | |
vt.监督,管理 | |
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