VOA常速英语2007年-Russia's Ruling Party Wins Majority in Disputed

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
03 December 2007

Four political parties have gained representation in the Russian parliament, with President Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia Party taking about 315 of 450 seats in national legislature. At least two Russian opposition¹ parties say they plan to challenge what they considered a biased² poll. Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also criticized the polling. VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports from Moscow some analysts⁴ see other troubling aspects of election.

With about 98 percent of the votes counted, the United Russia party has more than 64 percent of the ballots⁵ cast. Two pro-Kremlin parties, the Liberal Democratic party and Fair Russia, also won enough votes to qualify for seats in Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma.

The head of Russia's Central Election Commission, Vladimir Churov, says it will be several days before a final, official count is announced. But he said the preliminary results are not likely to change.

Leaders of the Communists, which won seats with more than 11 percent of the vote, and the Union of Right Forces party both plan to challenge the results.

Opposition members have complained for several weeks that the Kremlin was rigging the election in favor of the pro-Putin party. They contend that opposition voices were denied access to Russian media, and that riot police broke up rallies and arrested their leaders.

The opposition charges are supported by an observer mission from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Its central conclusion announced at a Moscow news conference is that Sunday's vote ''failed to meet many OSCE commitments and standards."

United Russia's identity and political platform are closely associated with President Putin and the so-called Putin Plan, which the party campaigned on. However, public opinion polls indicate voters do not know what the plan is and the party has not explained it. In addition, Russia votes again in three months for Mr. Putin's successor.

Political analyst³ Viktor Kremenyuk of Moscow's USA-Canada Institute think tank, told the VOA that an uncertain political program raises a troubling a leadership issue.

Kremenyuk says the new president could be friendly toward United Russia, but not necessarily. He says the new leader may be offended if the party remains⁶ loyal to Mr. Putin, which could lead to an adversarial relationship between his successor and parliament.

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, a leader of a political coalition⁷ that was prohibited from fielding candidates, also voices concern about United Russia's program.

"I don't know whether they have a plan how to use this referendum, I doubt whether they have one yet. The fact is that they are not just rigging the vote, they are raping⁸ the democratic system," he said.

The Russian constitution prohibits President Putin from running for a third consecutive⁹ term. Political analysts say he may try to circumvent¹⁰ the ban by advancing a weak successor who would resign, allowing Mr. Putin to return to office for a non-consecutive term. The Kremlin leader has also hinted he may be interested in becoming prime minister.

1 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。

2 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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》

6 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。

7 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。

8 raping   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的现在分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• In response, Charles VI sent a punitive expedition to Brittany, raping and killing the populace. 作为报复，查理六世派军讨伐布列塔尼，奸淫杀戮平民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The conquerors marched on, burning, killing, raping and plundering as they went. 征服者所到之处烧杀奸掠，无所不做。 来自互联网

9 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

10 circumvent   

vt.环绕，包围；对…用计取胜，智胜

参考例句：

• Military planners tried to circumvent the treaty.军事策略家们企图绕开这一条约。
• Any action I took to circumvent his scheme was justified.我为斗赢他的如意算盘而采取的任何行动都是正当的。