VOA慢速英语2012 IN THE NEWS - Draft Constitution Signed for Somalia

 

IN THE NEWS - Draft Constitution Signed for Somalia

新闻报道 - 索马里签署宪法草案

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道。

Somalia has taken a big step along its so-called roadmap for ending a period of political transition toward a new government. On Friday, in Nairobi, Somali officials signed an agreement on a proposed constitution.

索马里沿着结束政治过渡期的所谓路线图，朝着新政府迈出了一大步。周五，索马里官员在内罗毕（肯尼亚首都）就拟议宪法（宪法草案）签署了协议。

Augustine Mahiga, the United Nations special representative for Somalia, welcomed the signing of several important measures on the roadmap.

联合国索马里问题特别代表奥古斯丁·马希格（Augustine Mahiga）对路线图上几大重要议案的签署表示了欢迎。

AUGUSTINE MAHIGA: "This stage in Nairobi is probably the most critical because it ushers¹ in the accomplishment² of one of the major steps to end the transition."

马希格：“内罗毕的这个阶段可能是最关键的，因为它迎来了结束过渡的一个重要步骤的贯彻落实。”

Six parties have signed the roadmap, including the leaders of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and regional governments. The signers also include a representative of an influential³ militia⁴.

索马里六方签署了路线图，其中包括索马里过渡联邦政府和地方政府的领导人。签署者还包括一个强势民兵组织的代表。

Friday's agreement in the Kenyan capital followed more than two days of debate. Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohammed Ali said the debate was mainly about the size of the future parliament and the methods for choosing future lawmakers.

周五在肯尼亚首都签署的这项协议经过了两天多的争论。索马里总理阿卜迪韦利·穆罕默德·阿里（Minister Abdiweli Mohammed Ali）表示，争议主要集中于未来议会的规模，以及选取未来议员的办法。

ABDIWELI ALI: "It went through a difficult process, but with all the challenges that we faced, we finally delivered to the Somali people."

穆罕默德·阿里：“协议的签署经历了一个艰难的过程，但我们历经所有挑战，最终将它提交给了索马里人民。”

A National Constituent⁵ Assembly with eight hundred twenty-five members must still approve the draft constitution. After that, the constitution will be considered provisional until Somalis hold a national vote to make it permanent. But the Somali government and international officials have said the security situation remains⁶ too dangerous to hold such a referendum.

这份宪法草案仍需得到由825名成员组成的全国制宪大会的批准。被批准之后，这部宪法草案将被视为临时宪法，直到索马里人民举行全国性投票使其永久化。但索马里政府和国际官员已经表示，安全局势仍然太危险无法举行这样的公投。

The assembly will meet in Mogadishu next month. The officials gathered in Nairobi decided⁷ to delay the assembly meeting by two weeks. That delay will leave only one month to elect a parliament and a new president by August twentieth. That is the deadline agreed to by the signers of the roadmap for ending an eight-year-long transition. Prime Minister Ali says the parties are under time pressure.

全国制宪大会将于下月在摩加迪沙召开，聚集在内罗毕的官员决定将其推迟两周举行。这一推迟将使得全国制宪大会的召开距8月20日选举议员和新总统只剩1个月时间。这是路线图签署者同意的结束8年之久过渡期的最后期限。

ABDIWELI ALI: "Hopefully, we will deliver."

Somalia has not had a strong central government since the fall of President Mohamed Siad Barre in nineteen ninety-one. The Transitional Federal Government was established in two thousand four but has little real power.

自从1991年穆罕默德·西亚德·巴雷（Mohamed Siad Barre）总统倒台后，索马里一直没有一个强有力的中央政府。过渡政府成立于2004年，但没有太大实权。

Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Three military offensives are underway against al-Shabab militants⁸ in central and southern Somalia.

索马里是全球最危险的国家之一。针对中部和南部索马里青年党武装分子发动的三大攻势正在进行中。

VOA recently did a survey of Somalis to get their opinions about their proposed constitution. The survey offers a rare look at the political views in a country torn by war and drought. More than three thousand men and women answered the survey.

美国之音最近对索马里人做了一项调查，以获取他们对拟议宪法的意见。这项调查对这个饱受战乱和干旱蹂躏的国家的政治观点进行了一次罕见的审视。三千多名男性和女性参与了这次调查。

Eighty-three percent of those in the survey said they want a constitution with a strong central government. Eighty-seven percent said the constitution should be based in Sharia, or Islamic law. Sixty-eight percent agreed that women should be allowed to hold political positions.

83%的调查者表示，他们希望宪法能够带来一个强有力的中央政府。87%的调查者表示，宪法应该基于伊斯兰法。68%的调查者认为女性应当被允许持有政治立场。

Senior editor Harun Maruf in VOA's Somali Service says the service teamed with Google to do the survey.

美国之音索马里部门的高级编辑哈伦·玛若夫（Harun Maruf）表示，该部门联合Google做了这项调查。

HARUN MARUF: "There was never political survey with this depth and effort in Somalia. This would be the first one."

玛若夫：“索马里从没有过这种深度，付出这么多努力的政治调查，这是第一次。”

The service collected more than twenty thousand phone numbers for the survey. Harun Maruf says the militant-controlled areas proved the most difficult, as expected.

该部门为这次调查收集了超过2万个电话号码。玛若夫表示，和预期的一样，调查武装分子控制地区被证明是最困难的。

HARUN MARUF: "You would call somebody who lives in a territory controlled by al-Shabab, and al-Shabab will know. They issued a statement saying that anybody who participates in the constitution process would be put to death."

玛若夫：“打给青年党控制地区的人，青年党就会知道。他们发表了一项声明称，参与宪法进程的任何人都将被处死。”

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

___

Contributing: Gabe Joselow and Mary Alice Salinas

1 ushers   

n.引座员( usher的名词复数 )；招待员；门房；助理教员v.引，领，陪同( usher的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Seats clicked, ushers bowed while he looked blandly on. 座位发出啪啦啪啦的声响，领座员朝客人们鞠躬，而他在一边温和殷勤地看着。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• The minister then offers a brief prayer of dedication, and the ushers return to their seats. 于是牧师又做了一个简短的奉献的祈祷，各招待员也各自回座位。 来自辞典例句

2 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

3 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

4 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

5 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。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• 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。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。