VOA常速英语2008年-Pakistan Voters Subdued Ahead of Monday Poll

By Raymond Thibodeaux
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
16 February 2008

Pakistan's national elections are due to be held Monday.  The poll is seen as a test of the country's commitment to democracy. But many Pakistanis are expressing pessimism¹ that the political exercise will bring about real change in the country. Raymond Thibodeaux reports from Rawalpindi.

At this crowded street-side tea shop in Rawalpindi, a garrison² town just south of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, the mood is as gloomy and foreboding as the drizzly³ skies. With national elections just a day away, the few smiles on display are from candidates on the colorful campaign banners draped across the storefronts, balconies and telephone poles.

Jamil Baig, 29, a clothing merchant, says many people here are not exactly eager to go the polls. Like many Pakistanis, he believes that the elections are rigged in favor of the ruling party, led by President Pervez Musharraf. This, despite Musharraf's low popularity rating in recent surveys.

"These local governments were imposed by Musharraf," he said.  "They are already interfering⁴ in the elections. They have already done a lot of pre-poll rigging. So, nobody will accept these elections. They will not be free and fair elections."

In polls that some Western countries see as a test of Pakistan's commitment to democracy, many candidates have not even bothered to hold public rallies, a staple⁵ of political campaigns in Pakistan. Other candidates are boycotting⁶ the elections outright⁷.

Such is the pall⁸ cast over much of Pakistan in the leadup to the elections. Two recent suicide bombings have left 27 people dead and at least 70 others injured. The bomb attacks came just weeks after one of the country's most promising⁹ opposition¹⁰ candidates, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated¹¹ here while on the campaign trail.

There are concerns that the rise in political violence could keep voters from the polls. Sheikh Sohail, 33, a pharmacist, says Bhutto's death leaves no one to vote for.

"We don't have any leadership," he said.  "I haven't seen out of these politicians, not a single man who could be our leader."

There are three main parties vying¹² to lead Pakistan.  For many of the country's illiterate¹³ voters, the parties are identified by their symbols.  There's the bicycle for the ruling party, the Pakistan Muslim League, led by General Musharraf.  There's the arrow for the Pakistan People's Party, led by Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari.  And there is the tiger for a split off of the ruling party, led by Nawaz Sharif, a two-time prime minister who was deposed¹⁴ by Musharraf in 1999.

The pre-election violence has ratcheted up tension in this nuclear-armed Islamic nation of 165 million people. It also has highlighted a sense of growing insecurity in a country seen as a key partner in the U.S.-led war against al-Qaida terrorists and their allied¹⁵ Taliban fighters, who appear to be gaining a wider foothold in the tribal¹⁶ areas of northwestern Pakistan.

But for many Pakistanis, the top election issues are closer to home.  The skyrocketing cost of food and fuel is mainly what is on the minds of most Pakistanis.  No government will last long unless they can control inflation.  That is according to Irfan Khan, who helps manage a family pet store that mainly sells parakeets, which constantly chatter¹⁷ in the background.

"The most important issue is inflation, and after that the petrol crisis," he said.  "Whichever government will come they will not survive and there will be a breakup after six months or one year."

A team of observers from the United States and the European Union is in Pakistan to help independent Pakistani civic¹⁸ groups monitor polling stations in the country's 272 voting districts.

Still, many Pakistanis worry that post-election clashes between the government and angry opposition supporters are almost inevitable¹⁹.

1 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

2 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

3 drizzly   

a.毛毛雨的(a drizzly day)

参考例句：

• This section of the country is drizzly in the winter. 该国的这一地区在冬天经常细雨蒙蒙。
• That region is drizzly in winter. 那个地区冬天常下小雨。

4 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

5 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

6 boycotting   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They're boycotting the shop because the people there are on strike. 他们抵制那家商店，因为那里的店员在罢工。
• The main opposition parties are boycotting the elections. 主要反对党都抵制此次选举。

7 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

8 pall   

v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕

参考例句：

• Already the allure of meals in restaurants had begun to pall.饭店里的饭菜已经不像以前那样诱人。
• I find his books begin to pall on me after a while.我发觉他的书读过一阵子就开始对我失去吸引力。

9 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

10 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。

11 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

12 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。

13 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

14 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

16 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

17 chatter   

vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战

参考例句：

• Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
• I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。

18 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。

19 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。