时代周刊:"欧洲最后一个专政国家”面临新手挑战

'Europe's last dictatorship' faces challenge from a novice¹

“欧洲最后一个专政国家”面临新手挑战

Europe's longest-serving leader, Alexander Lukashenko, is facing an unprecedented² challenge

8月9日，参加白俄罗斯总统竞选，谋求第6届任期之际，

as he runs for a sixth term as President of Belarus in elections on Aug.9.

欧洲地区任职时间最长的领导人亚历山大·卢卡申科陷入了前所未有的挑战。

A former teacher with no political experience, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has emerged as his main rival, pledging to restore democracy.

毫无政治经验的前任教师斯维特拉娜·蒂哈诺夫斯卡娅成了他的主要竞争对手，前者立誓要恢复民主。

"For the first time in his 26-year rule, Lukashenko knows the majority don't support him," says Aleksandr Feduta, a former aide to the incumbent³.

“卢卡申科执政26年来，第一次发现自己失去了多数民众的支持，”现任总统前助手亚历山大·费杜塔说。

BELORUSSIAN BULLY⁴

白俄罗斯霸主

Lukashenko has ruled the former Soviet⁵ republic of 9.5 million people since 1994.

自1994年以来，卢卡申科一直统治着这个拥有950万人口的前苏联共和国。

His regime was dubbed⁶ "Europe's last dictatorship" by President George W. Bush in 2005.

2005年，其政权被乔治·W·布什总统冠上了“欧洲最后的专制政权”之名。

He has jailed opposition⁷ leaders, repressed independent opinion polls and held elections deemed "severely⁸ flawed" by the European Parliament.

他监禁反对派领导人，镇压独立民意调查，举行的选举也被欧洲议会视为“存在严重缺陷”的选举。

Now, anger has mounted over his mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic (he dubbed it a "psychosis" that could be cured by vodka),

如今，他应对新冠肺炎疫情应对不当（他将这一病毒称之为伏特加就能治愈的“精神病”），（加之）白俄罗斯经济十年不见起色，

a decade of economic stagnation⁹ and financial dependence¹⁰ on neighboring Russia, which many citizens see as a threat to sovereignty.

靠着邻国俄罗斯才维持到今天，而不少公民都认为后者对白俄罗斯的主权是一大威胁，激起的民愤愈演愈烈。

ROOKIE'S ROAD

新手之路

Tikhanovskaya entered the race when her husband Sergei Tikhanovski, a popular YouTuber who led rallies against the regime, was jailed in May.

丈夫谢尔盖·蒂哈诺夫斯基，这位YouTube网红曾发动反对卢卡申科政权的集会，便于今年五月被判入狱，之后，蒂哈诺夫斯卡娅便加入了竞选行列。

Backed by opposition figures, Tikhanovskaya has brought record crowds to rally in support of her three pledges:

在反对派人物的支持下，蒂哈诺夫斯卡娅召集了超前规模的民众支持她的三个承诺：

to free political prisoners; reverse authoritarianism¹¹; and run new, free elections within six months.

释放政治犯；推翻专制主义（政府）；在六个月内举行自由的选举。

Police have responded with heavy-handed tactics, arresting more than 1,000 protesters, according to the Minsk-based humanrights group Viasna.

据总部位于明斯克的人权组织Viasna透露，白俄罗斯警方随后实施高压策略，逮捕了1000多名抗议者。

NO CONTEST

零竞争

The incumbent will almost certainly claim victory through a fraudulent election with vote rigging and ballot¹² stuffing, analysts¹³ say.

分析人士称，现任总统几乎肯定会通过操纵选票、一人多投等选举舞弊操作攫取胜利。

But his battles won’t end there.

然而，他的战斗并不会就此结束。

Protesters have no intention of backing down, says Matthew Frear, an expert on Belarus at Leiden University,

莱顿大学白俄罗斯问题专家马修·弗里尔表示，抗议者无意让步，

and a weakened Lukashenko will find it far more difficult to resist the Kremlin’s influence:

届时，即便连任成功，式微的卢卡申科也会发现，日后抗拒克里姆林宫的难度会大大增加：

"If he cracks down on dissent¹⁴ he will lose the chance of turning to the West, leaving him with no choice but to work with Moscow."

“如果他镇压异见人士，他就会失去向西方寻求帮助的机会，这样一来，除了与莫斯科合作，他别无选择。”

1 novice   

adj.新手的，生手的

参考例句：

• As a novice writer,this is something I'm interested in.作为初涉写作的人，我对此很感兴趣。
• She realized that she was a novice.她知道自己初出茅庐。

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

3 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

4 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

9 stagnation   

n. 停滞

参考例句：

• Poor economic policies led to a long period of stagnation and decline. 糟糕的经济政策道致了长时间的经济萧条和下滑。
• Motion is absolute while stagnation is relative. 运动是绝对的，而静止是相对的。

10 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

11 authoritarianism   

权力主义，独裁主义

参考例句：

• Modern authoritarianism is a vestige of traditional personal rule. 现代独裁主义则是传统的个人统治的残余。
• In its latter days it was a byword for authoritarianism, incompetence, and corruption. 在后期，它是独裁、无能和腐化的代号。

12 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

13 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

14 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。