2007年VOA标准英语-Gemayel Defeated for Lebanese Parliament Seat

By Edward Yeranian
Beirut
06 August 2007

Former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel waves to supporters after voting in the town of Bikfaya, Lebanon, 05 Aug 2007

Former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel has gone down to defeat in a parliament by-election to fill the seat of his late son, Pierre, assassinated¹ last November. It was also a stinging defeat for the embattled pro-Western government of Prime Minister Fouad Saniora, as Edward Yeranian reports from Beirut.

Parliament by-elections are usually not the subject of contention² in Lebanon. However, Sunday's contest to replace two slain³ members of parliament have inflamed⁴ passions across the political spectrum⁵.

Former President Amin Gemayel was defeated by a razor-thin margin⁶ of 400 votes in a Christian⁷ Beirut suburb, in what observers are calling a litmus test of support for Lebanon's embattled pro-Western government.

The winner, an obscure political figure representing former army commander and opposition⁸ leader General Michel Aoun, reinforces the pro-Syrian opposition coalition⁹, which includes Aoun's Hezbollah allies.

Lebanon Interior Minister Hassan al Saba'a announced the results of the hotly contested election, early Monday morning, amid claims of fraud by former President Gemayel.

Saba'a says the former president is contesting the election's results.  Saba'a says the election committee has received a complaint lodged¹⁰ by a representative of President Gemayel, to invalidate the election results.

Voting irregularities forced the Election Monitoring Committee to cast aside results from at least one electoral district.

The Beirut media is calling the contest a show of strength to anoint Lebanon's top Christian political figure.

Al Diyar newspaper headlined, "Aoun wins by the numbers, but Gemayel recovers top role," in a reference to which Maronite Christian political leader will have the most influence in this fall's presidential elections.

Lebanon's president traditionally belongs to the Maronite Catholic sect¹¹ and is elected by vote of parliament.

The head of the former Lebanese Forces Christian Militia¹², Samir Geagea, is calling the election a test of strength in Lebanon's Christian camp.

Geagea says the results reveal who really represents Christians¹³, especially in the next phase, which include presidential elections.

The former Army Commander, General Aoun, who is vying¹⁴ to be president, once fought a "War of Liberation" against Syria, but is now aligned¹⁵ with a coalition, including Hezbollah and other Syrian allies.

Many Christians, including those belonging to the pro-Western government of Prime Minister Fouad Saniora, complain that Aoun made a secret deal with Syria to gain its support.

Syria's key allies in Lebanon openly urged their supporters to vote for Aoun's candidate in yesterday's election.

1 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

2 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

3 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

4 inflamed   

adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His comments have inflamed teachers all over the country. 他的评论激怒了全国教师。
• Her joints are severely inflamed. 她的关节严重发炎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

6 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 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。

9 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。

10 lodged   

v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属

参考例句：

• The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

12 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

13 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

14 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

15 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。