VOA常速英语2007年-Pakistan's Ousted Chief Justice Addresses Lawye

By Barry Newhouse
Islamabad
06 November 2007

Pakistan's ousted¹ Supreme² Court chief justice has urged his supporters to protest the country's emergency rule, using a mobile-phone link to address a rally by the legal community. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad that the United States issued another strong call for elections originally scheduled in January to take place "on schedule."

It was the first time since he was placed under house arrest Saturday that Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhry's voice has been heard in public.

The man who has become a symbol of opposition³ to President Pervez Musharraf urged lawyers to demand that the constitution be reinstated. General Musharraf fired Chaudry late Saturday as he announced that he was placing the country under emergency rule, but Chaudry and his fellow justices say the emergency decree was unconstitutional.

Chaudry spoke⁴ by telephone to a rally of several-hundred lawyers near Islamabad's district court. His voice was received through a mobile phone that was held up to a loudspeaker - until the mobile networks in the capital suddenly went dead.

Chaudhry says lawyers, civil servants and members of the military should disobey the emergency order.

The government has given Supreme Court justices the choice of accepting a new provisional constitution, which imposed emergency rule, or stepping down. Eight of the justices have accepted the new constitution.

 Chaudry and several others refused to accept the decree. In his address to the lawyers, he confirmed that he and six other justices had voted Saturday that the emergency decree was unconstitutional. Their ruling was ignored, however, and they were placed under house arrest.

On Tuesday, the eight justices who have accepted the emergency decree overturned that Saturday ruling. The eight also formally upheld the provisional constitution.

Chaudry's address energized⁵ the crowd of lawyers, many of whom wore bright red stickers with the slogan "down with dictatorship" written in Urdu. They chanted slogans accusing General Musharraf's allies of being traitors⁶, and vowing⁷ not to accept what they called the country's current injustice⁸.

Clashes between hundreds of lawyers and police were reported Pakistan's central city Multan, but the demonstration⁹ in Islamabad was largely peaceful. On Monday, hundreds of protesting lawyers were arrested, many of them in the central city of Lahore.

There were conflicting reports about whether and when the government plans to hold parliamentary elections, which were scheduled for January.

The U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson, said she had met with the Pakistani Election Commission. She said she repeated Washington's "strong" interest in "ensuring that parliamentary elections take place as planned in January."

 

In a statement, Patterson called for opponents of Mr. Musharraf to be released from detention¹⁰, and for an election schedule to be released "as soon as possible."

On Monday, U.S. President George Bush said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had called Mr. Musharraf to say that Washington expects him to hold elections as soon as possible. Mr. Bush said Rice also told the general that he should step down from his role as military chief of staff.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 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

6 traitors   

卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人

参考例句：

• Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
• Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。

7 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

8 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

9 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

10 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。