VOA常速英语2008年-Muslim Brotherhood to Boycott Local Elections i

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
07 April 2008

Egypt's largest opposition¹ group, the Muslim Brotherhood², is urging its followers³ to boycott⁴ Tuesday's local council elections after the vast majority of its candidates were disqualified. VOA's Challiss McDonough has more from Cairo.

The Muslim Brotherhood's leader issued a statement on the group's Web site urging followers to boycott Tuesday's election for more than 50,000 local council seats.

The group had earlier said it would participate, even in the face of a pre-election crackdown that has landed more than 800 of its members in jail. But a day before the poll, the Brotherhood said it had only been able to get 20 candidates onto the ballots⁵ as independents - a tiny fraction of the 10,000 contenders it tried to register - and said participating in such an election would add legitimacy⁶ to what it called a farce⁷.

The Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned, but is tolerated to some extent. Its candidates run as independents.

The group says it has won thousands of administrative⁸ court rulings that its candidates should be allowed to register, and it accused the government of ignoring the verdicts.

Essam El-Erian heads the Muslim Brotherhood's political bureau.

"Yes, it is a call for boycotting⁹ these polls, because there's actually no election! The members are selected by the police and appointed by the ruling party, and no competition at all in this election," said Essam El-Erian.

He said the group will take the government to court to have the election invalidated.

Secular¹⁰ opposition parties have also had many of their candidates disqualified, but the crackdown on the Brotherhood has been especially intense. New York-based Human Rights Watch last week called the arrests of the Muslim Brotherhood members "a shameless bid" to rig the vote.

The local elections come just two days after a nationwide general strike to protest stagnant¹¹ wages and skyrocketing food prices. Police broke up most attempted protests in connection to the strike, and violent clashes erupted between police and demonstrators in the Nile Delta¹² town of Mahalla.

El-Erian, who is seen as one of the Brotherhood's more moderate leaders, warned that the government's crackdowns are squeezing out the possibility for peaceful and democratic change that he and his fellow moderates within the Islamist movement have advocated.

"It is clear now, there is no desire or will in the government to have political reform or free and fair elections or any competition at all," he said. "This is an ideal prescription¹³ for explosion, which appeared yesterday in Egypt in the big response to the invitation to stay at home and in the clashes in El-Mahalla. This is the message for the regime - if he doesn't open the door of hope for the people to change peacefully, he is actually opening the doors of hell."

The Muslim Brotherhood renounced¹⁴ violence in the 1970s, and has participated in most Egyptian elections since the 1980s. In 2005, the group won about a fifth of the seats in parliament, making it the largest opposition block in the legislature. That result shocked the ruling party, and the government then postponed¹⁵ the local elections for two years.

Traditionally, local elections have had little significance in Egypt and have not been hotly contested. But these are the first since the constitution was amended¹⁶ last year, requiring a candidate for president to have the support of at least 140 members of local councils.

Opposition political activist¹⁷ and former newspaper publisher Hisham Kassem says that means more is at stake. He predicts that the ruling party will not be taking any chances.

"We're talking about probably the worst elections that Egypt has seen in its history, and I can confidently say that, in advance of them, because, while in the past the government rigged these elections when they really meant very little, but what you have at stake is a lot right now," said Hisham Kassem.

Analysts¹⁸ expect that the ruling National Democratic Party will win easy victories in the vast majority of the local council races, especially since most opposition candidates were kept off the ballots. In many districts, the ruling party candidates are running unopposed.

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 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

3 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

4 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

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 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

7 farce   

n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹

参考例句：

• They played a shameful role in this farce.他们在这场闹剧中扮演了可耻的角色。
• The audience roared at the farce.闹剧使观众哄堂大笑。

8 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

9 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。

10 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

11 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

12 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

13 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

14 renounced   

v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃

参考例句：

• We have renounced the use of force to settle our disputes. 我们已再次宣布放弃使用武力来解决争端。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Andrew renounced his claim to the property. 安德鲁放弃了财产的所有权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

16 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

17 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

18 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。