2007年VOA标准英语-Vietnam Communists Dominate Election Results

By Matt Steinglass
Hanoi
29 May 2007

Communist Party candidates have been elected to more than 90 percent of the seats in Vietnam's National Assembly. The government announced the results of the May 20 election on Tuesday. Matt Steinglass reports from Hanoi.

Residents leave a voting station in Hanoi, 20 May 2007

There were 875 candidates running for 500 seats in last week's Vietnamese National Assembly elections. But the outcome was never in doubt.

Bui Ngoc Thanh, the head of the National Assembly's electoral council, announced that 91 percent of the 493 winning candidates were members of the Communist Party.

Thanh says the election reflected the Vietnamese people's confidence in the Communist Party's reformist economic policies, and the people's right to self-government.

Vietnam maintains a one-party system. The National Assembly has gained some influence since 1992, when a new constitution assigned it a greater role in government. Once a rubber-stamp body, it now debates changes to the law, and often questions government leaders.

In these elections, the government declared it wanted to broaden participation¹ to more non-Party members, but Thanh says those efforts were disappointing.

He says the government had hoped to get 50 non-Party members as delegates, but only 43 were elected.

The nomination² process was controlled by a powerful Communist Party-affiliated organization called the Fatherland Front.  Almost all the candidates, including the non-party members, are nominated by the Party, or by mass organizations like the Women's Union.

In principle, Vietnamese citizens can run as "self-nominated," or independent, candidates. But such candidates face tough scrutiny³. Hundreds volunteered, but only 30 made it through the pre-election approval process.

When the results were announced, it turned out that of those 30, only one had been elected.

Officials said 99.6 percent of Vietnam's voters cast their ballots⁴ in the elections. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung won his National Assembly seat, in the city of Haiphong, with 99 percent of the vote.

1 participation   

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。

2 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

3 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

4 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 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》