2007年VOA标准英语-Poland to Hold Early Elections After Corruption

By Stefan Bos
Budapest
08 September 2007

Poland's parliament has voted to hold early elections following high level corruption¹ allegations. Stefan Bos reports for VOA from Budapest that more political turbulence² is expected ahead of the October 21 vote, as the Polish opposition³ and ruling conservatives prepare for a bitter election campaign.

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Lawmakers from the ruling Law and Justice party vote to dissolve the parliament during the chamber's session in Warsaw, 07 Sep 2007

Polish politicians applauded when a motion to hold early elections passed with a huge majority. Only 54 parliamentarians in the 460-seat chamber voted against new elections.

President Lech Kaczynski set the vote for October 21, two years ahead of schedule.

The president's twin brother, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said the election would give voters a fresh chance to embrace what he called "his party's struggle" against corruption, which has plagued Poland since the fall of communism in 1989.

Critics however say that corruption is to blame for the collapse⁵ of the prime minister's right-leaning coalition⁶ last month.

The troubles began after Prime Minister Kaczynski's conservative Law and Justice party narrowly won the 2005 parliamentary elections. The party formed a coalition with the right-wing League of Polish Families and the agrarian⁷ Self-Defense party, which are both critical of the European Union.

Soon, corruption allegations emerged involving the leader of Self-Defense, Andrzej Lepper, who was agriculture minister and deputy prime minister. That scandal eventually led to the call for early elections.

There have also been accusations⁸ from a former interior minister, fired last month, that the government has abused the secret services to spy on politicians and journalists.

Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski speaks at a press conference after a vote to cut short the parliament's term in Warsaw, 07 Sep 2007

Yet, Prime Minister Kaczynski has managed to protect key ministers.

By doing so, he has prevented the opposition from removing the ministers by using a parliamentary vote.

But the Polish opposition warns it will wage a tough election campaign. The largest opposition party, the Civic⁹ Platform, has already posted billboards¹⁰ that say that when the ruling Law and Justice party is in power, "all Poles are ashamed."

Speaking through an interpreter on the Polish Radio External Service, Civic Platform parliamentarian Bogdan Zdrojewski defended his party's harsh campaign ads.

"Our slogans are indeed harsh. But it is also because our emotions are running high," said Zdrojewski. "These two years have been wasted, and it is the government, not the opposition, who is responsible for this. Many times we tried to be constructive¹¹, but nothing ever came out of it. But what is important, there is no doubt there are two major players right now on the Polish political scene, the Law and Justice and Civic Platform parties."

Despite the scandals, opinion polls indicate that, with 30 percent support, the Law and Justice party of Jaroslaw Kaczynski is currently ahead of the Civic Platform.

That has led to nervousness among some investors¹², who hoped that the pro-business Civic Platform would be able to form a more market-friendly government for Poland, central Europe's biggest economy.

The elections will be closely watched by the international community, in part because Poland is a key U.S. ally and, with over 38 million people, the largest country among new member states of the European Union.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

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 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

5 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。

6 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。

7 agrarian   

adj.土地的，农村的，农业的

参考例句：

• People are leaving an agrarian way of life to go to the city.人们正在放弃农业生活方式而转向城市。
• This was a feature of agrarian development in Britain.这是大不列颠土地所有制发展的一个特征。

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

9 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

10 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

11 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

12 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会