VOA常速英语2007-Pakistan Politics Mired in Uncertainty

By Gary Thomas
Washington
05 October 2007

Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, signed an order dropping corruption¹ 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 remains² unresolved.

The Musharraf and Bhutto camps have been in negotiations³ 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 analyst⁴ 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 legitimacy⁵ than he would have had otherwise in the election," he said. "Beyond that, it doesn't touch the issue of civilian⁶ military control..."

The Eighth Amendment⁷ 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 loathe⁸ 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 ousted⁹, it was by a bloodless military coup¹⁰ 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 relegated¹¹ to a secondary role. General Musharraf's party and its allies have solid control of the national and provincial¹² 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 relinquish¹³ 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 supremacy¹⁴.

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 prescription¹⁵ 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 ordinance¹⁶ barring any twice-serving prime minister from seeking a third term. As long as that is in effect, Ms. Bhutto could not regain¹⁷ her old office, even if her party were to win the general elections outright¹⁸.

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 Supreme¹⁹ Court can rule on legal challenges regarding whether Mr. Musharraf was eligible²⁰ to seek re-election.

1 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。

2 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。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• 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。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• 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。

5 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• 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。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• 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。

7 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• 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。

8 loathe   

v.厌恶，嫌恶

参考例句：

• 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。

9 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• 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。

10 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• 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。

11 relegated   

v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类

参考例句：

• 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》

12 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• 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。

13 relinquish   

v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手

参考例句：

• 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。

14 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• 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。

15 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• 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。

16 ordinance   

n.法令；条令；条例

参考例句：

• 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。

17 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• 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。

18 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• 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。

19 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• 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。

20 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。