VOA常速英语2007-Pakistan Politics Mired in Uncertainty
时间:2019-02-18 作者:英语课 分类:2007年VOA常速英语(十月)
- 1 VOA常速英语2007-Pakistan Politics Mired in Uncertainty
Washington
05 October 2007
Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, signed an order dropping corruption 1 charges against former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Friday, paving the way for her to return home from self-imposed exile. However, as VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, there is much in Pakistani politics that remains 2 unresolved.
The Musharraf and Bhutto camps have been in negotiations 3 for months about Pakistan's political future. General Musharraf's order granting amnesty, which was announced one day before the presidential election, will allow Ms. Bhutto to return to Pakistan as planned on October 18, without fear of being arrested.
But Marvin Weinbaum, a former Pakistan analyst 4 for the State Department, says negotiations between General Musharraf and Bhutto have not resolved the central question of where the center of power will reside on Pakistan's political landscape.
"All it solves is that it gets her back home free, and it gets him a little bit more legitimacy 5 than he would have had otherwise in the election," he said. "Beyond that, it doesn't touch the issue of civilian 6 military control..."
The Eighth Amendment 7 to the Pakistan Constitution gives the president the power to fire the prime minister. Weinbaum says changing that rule would be critical for Bhutto.
"She needs that Eighth Amendment [to the Constitution] changed," he said. "She really does - a promise, at least, that it will be taken up, and that is, of course, that he gives up the power to dissolve the parliament as president, which he would be loathe 8 to do because, without the uniform, what does he have left?"
Ms. Bhutto was fired twice under that provision. Another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, was dismissed once by the president. The second time he was ousted 9, it was by a bloodless military coup 10 in 1999, led by army chief General Pervez Musharraf.
Since then, General Musharraf held the posts of both president and military chief, and the job of prime minister has been relegated 11 to a secondary role. General Musharraf's party and its allies have solid control of the national and provincial 12 parliaments that together elect the president, so his re-election would seem to be a virtual certainty.
One of Bhutto's key demands had been that he relinquish 13 his role as army chief before running for re-election as president. General Musharraf has pledged to give up his military post, if re-elected, and has nominated a loyalist, the former head of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, to replace him in that role.
Throughout Pakistan's history, and especially in the 1990s, civilian politicians and the military have vied for political supremacy 14.
The civilian power was vested in the prime minister under a parliamentary system. But the military was also a power player, often through the president. Marvin Weinbaum says that struggle may well be revived by Ms. Bhutto's return to the political scene.
"It strikes a lot of people that all you're doing is, you're recreating the 1990s, where you've got a president who is speaking for the army, and who serves really as the bridge between the army and the prime minister, and the deck is very much weighed in favor of the military," he said. "Given the way it is now, that's what I think we're looking at - the same kind of unsettled political scene that we saw through the '90s."
Parliamentary elections are to be held late this year or early in 2008. Walter Andersen, former chief of the South Asia desk at the State Department's intelligence bureau, says there are questions about whether the changes made by General Musharraf in 2002, which, in effect, changed Pakistan from a parliamentary system to a presidential one, were legal. He says the courts could rule on that, as well.
"A lot of people say it wasn't ratified," he said. "And they [the courts] could rule against him on that, returning the government to a kind of system of a kind of a equidistance between the president and the prime minister. Now that's a prescription 15 for military involvement. He [Musharraf] might not mind because, then, the military then becomes the third actor, playing one against the other, as it did throughout the 1990s."
General Musharraf also issued an ordinance 16 barring any twice-serving prime minister from seeking a third term. As long as that is in effect, Ms. Bhutto could not regain 17 her old office, even if her party were to win the general elections outright 18.
But even the presidential elections remain in question. Although Mr. Musharraf was expected to win easily, the results are not to be publicized until the Supreme 19 Court can rule on legal challenges regarding whether Mr. Musharraf was eligible 20 to seek re-election.
- The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
- The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。
- He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
- The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
- negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
- Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。
- What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务?
- The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。
- The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
- Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。
- There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
- He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。
- The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
- The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。
- I loathe the smell of burning rubber.我厌恶燃着的橡胶散发的气味。
- You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时,你会厌恶油腻的气味。
- 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。
- The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
- That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。
- She was then relegated to the role of assistant. 随后她被降级做助手了。
- I think that should be relegated to the garbage can of history. 我认为应该把它扔进历史的垃圾箱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
- Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。
- He was forced to relinquish control of the company.他被迫放弃公司的掌控权。
- They will never voluntarily relinquish their independence.他们绝对不会自动放弃独立。
- No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员,无人能胜过她。
- Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说,她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。
- The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
- The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。
- The Ordinance of 1785 provided the first land grants for educational purposes.1785年法案为教育目的提供了第一批土地。
- The city passed an ordinance compelling all outdoor lighting to be switched off at 9.00 PM.该市通过一条法令强令晚上九点关闭一切室外照明。
- He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
- The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。
- If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事,你应该直率地对我说。
- You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。
- It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
- He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。