VOA常速英语2007-Confidence Vote Looming for Somali Interim Gover

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
10 October 2007

Somali interim¹ Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi and his government are expected to face a confidence vote in parliament this week, heightening speculation² that Somalia's political leadership may soon change. As VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, a political rift³ between the prime minister and President Abdullahi Yusuf has widened in recent weeks.

Parliament members from across Somalia have been arriving in Baidoa, the base of the Transitional Federal Government, to take part in the confidence vote.

Several members of parliament, who are against extending Ali Mohamed Gedi's three-year tenure⁴ as prime minister, introduced the motion. They accuse the Somali leader of, among other things, misappropriating public funds and doing little to halt insecurity in Mogadishu.

Sources in parliament tell VOA that Prime Minister Gedi has a number of supporters among the 275 parliament members. But the prime minister is also facing a large number of opponents, who have urged interim President Abdullahi Yusuf to name a new prime minister.

Through President Yusuf's support, Prime Minister Gedi survived two previous no-confidence votes in parliament. But it is widely believed that President Yusuf is now backing the anti-Gedi lawmakers.

Relations between the president and the prime minister grew bitter last month, after Mr. Gedi dismissed a close political ally of the president. The incident erupted into a political crisis, which required the mediation⁵ of neighboring Ethiopia.

Sources close to President Yusuf say he has already prepared a list of possible candidates for the post of prime minister. One of the leading candidates is said to be a highly-respected technocrat⁶.

But to appoint a political outsider, an amendment⁷ must first be made in the interim law that prohibits non-parliamentarians from holding the post of prime minister or membership in Cabinet. President Yusuf is expected to propose a change in the law this week.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gedi has been seeking to shore up support among members of his Hawiye clan⁸, which has a long history of rivalry⁹ with President Yusuf's Darod clan.

Earlier this week, the prime minister held meetings with influential¹⁰ Hawiye elders in Mogadishu, who had opposed the Gedi government for allowing Ethiopian troops to remain in Somalia after they helped the government seize power from the Islamic Courts Union nine months ago.

Prime Minister Gedi said the talks have led to a truce¹¹ with the elders and they have agreed to work with his administration to help curb¹² a violent Islamist-led anti-government insurgency¹³ that has devastated¹⁴ the country.

But Hawiye clan member Abudllahi Sheik Hassan in Mogadishu tells VOA that many people in his clan have already lost faith in the government.

"No, they are not supporting Gedi," he said. "He has failed. For three years he has been prime minister here. He has failed politically, militarily, economically. The Islamic Courts, they will continue fighting. So, there is no peace here."

On Tuesday, the former deputy security chief for the Islamic Courts Union, Muktar Robow, said that the insurgency against the interim government would not end unless Somalia returned to being an Islamic state.

The radical¹⁵ Islamist is a close ally of Adan Hashi Ayro, an al-Qaida trained militant¹⁶ who founded the Mogadishu-based youth group called the Shabbab. After months in hiding, both men recently resurfaced in the Somali capital.

1 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

2 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

3 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

4 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

5 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

6 technocrat   

n.技术人员，技术官僚

参考例句：

• He is a distant technocrat who is unable to connect with ordinary voters.作为一个冷淡的技术官僚，他不能做到与普通选民息息相通。
• Jack Lew,the new budget director,is the quintessential technocrat.新预算主管杰克·卢就是一个典型的技术官僚。

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 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

9 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

10 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。

11 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

12 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

13 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

14 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

15 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

16 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。