VOA常速英语2007年-Russia's Ruling Party Accused of Pressuring Vot

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
29 November 2007
  

President Vladimir Putin continues his campaign on behalf of the ruling United Russia Party amid charges the organization is pressuring voters to cast ballots¹ on its behalf in Sunday's parliamentary election. VOA Moscow Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports such pressure violates Russian law.

In televised remarks to the nation, President Putin again urged voters to cast ballots for his United Russia Party in order to keep the country's economy growing.

The Russian leader cautioned against voting for people who ruled unsuccessfully in the past. According to Mr. Putin, they would halt Russia's development and return the country to a time of humiliation², dependence³ and collapse⁴.

Mr. Putin's speech was announced in advance, and it aired throughout the day on nationwide news programs.

Opposing views and criticism of the Kremlin are not allowed on national television, but appear instead in small newspapers.

Vedomosti, a daily newspaper with a circulation of less than 75,000, is one of several publications with stories this week about organized pressure on voters to cast ballots on behalf of the ruling United Russia Party. The Thursday edition cites a source in the Education Department of Rostov in southern Russia as saying political pressure has been applied⁵ on school principals.

They, in turn, order teachers to call parents to discuss student progress with a recommendation to vote on Sunday. The newspaper reports that a follow-up call is to be made on Sunday to determine which parents voted.

Various domestic sources and international wire services report similar pressure on office and factory workers, physicians, and others.

Tuesday, the English-language Moscow Times quoted an unnamed official in Russia's Central Election Commission as saying it received orders to double the vote count in favor of United Russia.

Independent lawmaker and former speaker of the Russian Parliament Vladimir Ryzhkov tells VOA he has not seen such get-out-the-vote pressure since the Soviet⁶ era.

Ryzhkov says pressure to vote for United Russia is being backed with threats of job loss, denial of rewards and other negative consequences.

The Golos Association, an independent Russian election monitoring group, says pressuring voters violates the country's constitution as well as specific federal laws that protect the principle that voting is voluntary.

The association's Lilia Shebenova tells the VOA that senior government officials violate such laws when they seek to influence voting by subordinates.

Shebenova says Russian law defines campaigning as all activity aimed at convincing people to vote for or against a given party. She says senior officials are routinely breaking the law by urging employees to vote for a specific party or its leading members.

Beyond the pressure, some opposition⁷ parties have been barred from fielding candidates in the election, including the opposition coalition⁸ of former chess champion Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Ryzhkov's Republican Party.

Mr. Putin's name tops the United Russia Party list and the president has said he might consider being prime minister. Ryzhkov says it is important for United Russia to get at least a 60 percent voter turnout to allow President Putin to claim popular support.

Wednesday, Amnesty International raised concerns about the pre-election period in Russia. A statement issued in Washington by the human rights organization condemned⁹ the detention¹⁰ of scores of activists¹¹ on Saturday, including Kasparov.

He was released Thursday following a five-day jail sentence for participating in an opposition demonstration¹² deemed illegal by Russian authorities.

1 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

3 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 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。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

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。

11 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》

12 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。