250 瓦西德在任的最后日子

250 瓦西德在任的最后日子

Wahid's Last Day in Office
Patricia Nunan
Jakarta
26 Jul 2001 20:21 UTC

Indonesia's ousted 1 president, Abdurrahman Wahid, has left the Presidential Palace and is en route to the United States. The former leader had battled for months to keep power and 1)maintains that lawmakers 2)violated the Constitution by removing him from power Monday. Although he says he will not launch a 3)legal battle to contest the presidency 2, Mr. Wahid says he is still not ready to give up public life.
There was a 4)carnival atmosphere at the park in front of Indonesia's Presidential Palace where ousted President Abdurrahman Wahid went to greet his followers 3 Thursday, before setting out for the United States. Roughly 2,000 Wahid followers turned out to say farewell to the Muslim 5)cleric who became Indonesia's first 6)democratically elected president.
Mr. Wahid told the crowd that he is going to the United States for medical tests. He has suffered several strokes and has other serious conditions, including 7)diabetes.
Mr. Wahid's health is just one 8)factor involved in a 9)complicated week of political 10)maneuvering, the culmination 4 of a six-month power-struggle. He had been struggling to hang onto power since February, when lawmakers first 11)censured him for alleged 5 12)corruption 6.
Although Mr. Wahid was cleared of corruption charges by Indonesia's attorney-general, lawmakers continued to pursue him for alleged incompetence 7.
Before his departure, Mr. Wahid said his real mistake was to misjudge the power of what he called political opportunists. "I was wrong in my estimates of the politicians quote-unquote 13)backbone," he said.
The former president blames members of the once-powerful old-guard of the Indonesian Armed Forces, whom he accuses of seeking to protect their own interests by undermining his effort at democratic reform. "Because the 14)hawks within the Armed Forces would like to impose status quo and so they use they use the quarrels within the politicians to set up their own - say, rule," said Mr. Wahid. "So which I think would slide little by little, to the old way."
Not everyone agrees. According to some 15)analysts 9, Mr. Wahid made a number of mistakes - including choosing members of his own family to serve as his closest 16)advisers. Political analyst 8 Dewi Fortuna Anwar says, "That means he's very dependent on those around him for information. And because Abdurrahman Wahid has had two strokes, one could imagine that those nearest and dearest to him would not want to deliver the really harsh and bad news to him because it might really damage his health."
The beginning of the end of the Wahid presidency came last week, when lawmakers moved up a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly to consider impeachment 10. Mr. Wahid reacted by ordering soldiers and police to 17)disband the assembly. But the security forces refused to obey, leaving the president looking weak, isolated 11 and not very democratic.
But Greg Barton, a biographer and loyal friend of Mr. Wahid, defends the former president. "If he was really serious about being an authoritarian 12 president, he did a lousy job of it - because he could have cut deals with the military, he could have cut deals with the former regime people," he said. "[But] when it came to the final hour, he went ahead with this 18)decree to say what we really need is fresh elections."
Mr. Wahid says that Monday's events in which lawmakers voted to replace him with his own vice 14 president is bad news for Indonesia's democratic reform Movement.
Mr. Wahid had warned for months that attempts to remove him were likely to spark violence and 19)chaos. But the dramatic political events this week did not bear this out.
Minutes before his departure in the central Jakarta part, Mr. Wahid urged his followers to use peaceful means to vent 13 their anger at the way he was forced from power. "Democracy is going to 20)flourish without violence and he will return to Indonesia to help see that it does," he said.
After the political drama he just went through, Mr. Wahid says he knows one thing for certain: he will never 21)resume his friendship with his former deputy, Megawati Sukarnoputri. He has also suggested that if he was not able to survive Indonesia's 22)turbulent politics, there is no way that the untested Ms. Megawati would be able to. Sour grapes perhaps, on the part of a 23)deposed leader. But analysts say Ms. Megawati should bear in mind that politics is a fickle 15 business, and the enthusiasm that brought her to power may not last long.

(1) maintain[meIn5teIn]vt.维持, 维修, 继续, 供养, 主张
(2) violate[5vaIEleIt]vt.违犯, 亵渎(圣物), 冒犯, 干扰, 违反
(3) legal[5li:^(E)l]adj.法律的, 法定的, 合法
(4) carnival[5kB:nIv(E)l]n.狂欢节, 饮宴狂欢
(5) cleric[5klerIk]n.牧师, 传教士adj.牧师的
(6) democratically adv.民主地, 民主主义地
(7) diabetes[daIE5bi:ti:z]n.[医] 糖尿病, 多尿症
(8) factor[5fAktE(r)]n.因素, 要素, 因数, 代理人
(9) complicated[5kRmplIkeItId]adj.复杂的, 难解的
(10) maneuver[mE5nu:vE(r)]v.机动n.机动
(11) censure[5senFE(r)]v.责难n.责难
(12) corruption[kE5rQpF(E)n]n.腐败, 贪污, 堕落
(13) backbone[5bAkbEJn]n.脊椎, 中枢,支柱, 意志力, 勇气
(14) hawk[hC:k]n.鹰vi.放鹰, 像鹰一般地袭击vt.捕捉, 咳出,散播
(15) analyst[5AnElIst]n.分析家, 分解者
(16) adviser n.顾问
(17) disband[dIs5bAnd]v.解散, 裁减
(18) decree[dI5kri:]n.法令, 政令, 教令v.颁布
(19) chaos[5keIRs]n.混乱, 混沌(宇宙未形成前的情形)
(20) flourish[5flQrIF]vi.繁荣,兴旺, 处于旺盛时期vt.挥动, 夸耀n.茂盛, 繁荣
(21) resume[rI5zju:m; (?@) -5zu:m]n.摘要, 履历vt.再继续, 重新开始,恢复
(22) turbulent[5t:bjJlEnt]adj.狂暴的, 吵闹的
(23) depose[dI5pEJz]vt.免职, 废(王位)vi.宣誓作证