VOA慢速英语2011--Coalition Talks, Unrest in Tunisia After First Vote of Arab Spring

IN THE NEWS - Coalition¹ Talks, Unrest in Tunisia After First Vote of Arab Spring

 

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

This week, the first elections of the Arab Spring took place in Tunisia, the country where the protest movement began.

Tunisians, in their first free elections, voted Sunday for an assembly to write a new constitution. The Constituent² Assembly also has to appoint a president and form a temporary government.

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Late in the week, there was violence in Sidi Bouzid, the city where the protests against Tunisia’s longtime president began. The violence started after election officials cancelled the results of seats won by the Popular List party. The officials said there were campaign violations³.

Official results show that an Islamist party, Ennahda, won more than forty percent of the seats in the assembly. Ennahda has begun talks with other parties on forming a coalition.

Rachid Ghannouchi (R), leader of the Islamist Ennahda party, speaks with his secretary-general Hamadi Jbeli (L) during a news conference in Tunis, October 28, 2011

Party leader Rachid Ghannouchi said Friday that his party would work to form a new government in "friendliness⁴" and "brotherhood⁵."

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Mr. Ghannouchi called for calm. He said his party would respect women's rights and Tunisia's pro-Western values.

The election was widely considered free and fair. Ennahda won three times as many seats as its nearest competitor. A liberal party, the Congress for the Republic, finished second with thirty of the two hundred seventeen seats.

Another liberal party, the Democratic Forum⁶ for Labor⁷ and Liberties, was third, with twenty-one seats.

Tunisia's former government banned Ennahda. The party says its positions are moderate and similar to those of Turkey.

Tunisian women have many rights, including the right not to cover their head. Yusra Ghannouchi, a party spokeswoman and daughter of its leader, says Ennahda will defend and even increase women's rights.

YUSRA GHANNOUCHI: "This is the not the state's business to impose any particular type of dress on women. This is absolutely a matter of personal choice."

But some people are worried that the party will support the rise of political Islam. Eric Goldstein with Human Rights Watch says Ennahda offers mixed messages.

ERIC GOLDSTEIN: "The leaders of the party have been reassuring⁸ to all Tunisians. No, we're not going to make women wear the veil. No we're not going to ban alcohol. We want to achieve our goals only through democracy. What's making some people anxious is the discourse⁹ of some of the mid-ranking members of the party, some of the preachers who preach in a really intolerant way."

Still, twenty-nine-year-old blogger and journalist Haythem el Mekki says much of the worry over Islam is fueled by the West.

HAYTHEM EL MEKKI: "The Islamists are political activists¹⁰. Like any political activists we should criticize them when we think they are wrong, and we should say they did a good thing when we agree with them."

Tunisia's revolution ousted¹¹ President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in January. Many Tunisians say they are hopeful for the future. Thirty-four-year-old Waesi Adili is an unemployed¹² computer technician.

WAESI ADILI: "I think Tunisia has escaped from the old regime. Hopefully the political system will offer credibility, dignity, tolerance¹³ -- and work.”

The Arab world will be watching Tunisia's democratic experience. Steven Ekovich is a political scientist at the American University of Paris.

STEVEN EKOVICH: "The problems are long-term, they're deep. It's going to take a long time for Tunisia to pull out of it. But if any country can do it, I think Tunisia can."

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.
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Contributing: Lisa Bryant, JulieAnn McKellogg and Edward Yeranian

1 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。

2 constituent   

n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的

参考例句：

• Sugar is the main constituent of candy.食糖是糖果的主要成分。
• Fibre is a natural constituent of a healthy diet.纤维是健康饮食的天然组成部分。

3 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

4 friendliness   

n.友谊，亲切，亲密

参考例句：

• Behind the mask of friendliness,I know he really dislikes me.在友善的面具后面，我知道他其实并不喜欢我。
• His manner was a blend of friendliness and respect.他的态度友善且毕恭毕敬。

5 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

6 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

9 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

12 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

13 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。