2006年VOA标准英语-Kuwaiti Women Fail to Win Seat in Landmark Parl

By Challiss McDonough
Kuwait City
30 June 2006

 
A Kuwaiti woman, left, casts her vote at a polling station in Salwa, Kuwait City, June 29, 2006  
  
Women candidates have failed to win a single seat in the Kuwaiti parliament in the first election where they were allowed to vote and run as candidates. But their political participation¹ has energized² Kuwaiti politics. Reformist candidates picked up several seats in parliament, and electoral reform is high on their agenda.

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Before the election, prominent activist³ and economist⁴ Rola Dashti was seen as the woman with the best chance at winning a seat. In the end, she placed fifth in her district, missing out on a parliamentary seat by several thousand votes.

Rola Dashti, left, shares a light moment with supporters at her campaign's headquarters in Jabriya, Kuwait City, June 28, 2006  
  
She knew when she embarked⁵ on her campaign that it would be an uphill battle, and she has already vowed⁶ to keep fighting until there are women in parliament.

"You see, we as women activists⁷, always we are confronted by struggles. So we face opposition⁸ from extremist Islamists," she said. "We face corrupted⁹ people. And we just have to fight, we just have to fight. Nothing is easy when it comes to women."

Opposition to Dashti's high-profile candidacy was intense. Her campaign posters were vandalized, she was the target of a smear¹⁰ campaign, and her family insisted that she only eat food prepared by them, for fear she would be poisoned. Dashti thought that request was a bit over the top, but she agreed to do it just to ease her family's worries.

Although women failed to win a single seat in parliament, political analysts¹¹ say women winning the right to vote has forced candidates to address women's issues, and given women a voice in Kuwaiti politics for the first time. Their participation has also revitalized the Kuwaiti political scene.

Outside a polling station in the Sabah As-Salem district, where many widows live in government-subsidized housing, young women chanted and sang in support of their favorite candidates all day, despite the oppressive heat.

Local election monitor Mohammad Mulla Juma marveled at their energy, and said women were far more enthusiastic about the election than men.

"See, this is what I was talking about," he said. "You won't see men doing any of these things these days!"

Kuwaiti voters may not have chosen to send any women to parliament, but they did choose some reformist candidates who are likely to keep pushing the electoral-reform issues that triggered this early election in the first place.

Kuwait's emir dissolved parliament five weeks ago and called elections a year ahead of schedule after a dispute over a plan to decrease the number of electoral districts from 25 to five.

May al-Nibari campaigned for her father, a progressive candidate who championed electoral reform.

"Five districts would at least minimize the corruption¹² that is taking [place] in Kuwait," she said. "When you have an electoral district with 40,000 to 50,000 to 60,000 voters per district, it's not easy to buy votes. The effect of same family or family relations, or when the head of the family asks the whole family to vote for someone... that would be minimized, big-time. So that's the main idea, to minimize corruption."

Al-Nibari's father lost to two candidates who spent lavishly¹³ on their campaigns in a tiny district with only 5,000 voters. But a number of other reformists won their bids for office, and the election-reform issue is not expected to go away. When Kuwaitis go to the polls next time, the system could be quite different, and possibly give the female candidates a better chance of success

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 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

6 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

7 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 corrupted   

（使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
• The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。

10 smear   

v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• He has been spreading false stories in an attempt to smear us.他一直在散布谎言企图诽谤我们。
• There's a smear on your shirt.你衬衫上有个污点。

11 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。

12 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• 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。

13 lavishly   

adv.慷慨地，大方地

参考例句：

• His house was lavishly adorned.他的屋子装饰得很华丽。
• The book is lavishly illustrated in full colour.这本书里有大量全彩插图。