VOA标准英语2008年-India's Congress Led-Coalition, Political Oppos

India's Congress-led coalition¹ government and its political opponents are wooing support ahead of a crucial confidence vote to be held next week. As Anjana Pasricha reports, the vote was triggered by deep political divisions over a controversial civilian² nuclear deal with the United States.
　
Manmohan Singh (file photo)

When Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided³, earlier this month, to move forward with a civilian nuclear pact⁴ signed with the United States, he had to put the survival of his government at stake. If concluded, the pact will give India access to global nuclear commerce from which it has been shut out for decades, because it has not signed the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.

But strong political opposition⁵ to the pact has reduced Mr. Singh's government to a minority, prompting him to seek a confidence vote in a two-day session of parliament, starting Monday.

On the front-line of those opposing the pact are Communist parties, who have pulled back support to the Congress-led coalition. They are vowing⁶ to do all they can to ensure the government will be defeated and forced to shelve the nuclear deal.

Analysts⁸ say that, for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the nuclear pact is important enough to risk his government.

Independent political analyst⁷ Mahesh Rangarajan says the prime minister sees the deal as the showpiece achievement of his tenure⁹, putting India in a select group of nations that have a nuclear weapons program, and access to nuclear commerce.

"He sees it as important, in terms of bringing India into that international comity¹⁰ of nations, that trade in nuclear materials and technology," he said. "India is not been part of that trade. Further, and this is significant, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sees a strategic partnership¹¹ with the U.S. as essential to India [long term interest]."

But Communist parties accuse the prime minister of putting Washington's interests before that of his own people and say the pact will give the United States too much leverage¹² on India's foreign and nuclear policy.
　
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Prakash Karat, sits for a media briefing in New Delhi, 08 Jul 2008

The head of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Prakash Karat, says the government is spending all its energy on sealing the nuclear deal, at a time when its priority should be to fight runaway¹³ inflation and poverty.

Karat says his party will never agree to become a "junior partner of the United States". He says the government is devising policies to promote American interests in India.

As the vote looms¹⁴ ahead, unlikely political alliances are being lined up in New Delhi, because the outcome of the vote will hinge on small political groups who have not yet decided which side to support.

The Communists and the main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party are usually on opposite sides of the political spectrum¹⁵. However, this time, both are trying to influence undecided members of parliament to vote against the government.

The Congress Party, on its part, has lined up a new ally, a former rival called the Samajwadi Party, to make-up for the loss of the Communists. But the Samajwadi Party, alone, cannot take the government past the half-way mark in the 545 member lower house of parliament. The leadership is in talks with small groups to enlist¹⁶ their support.

Political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan says political deals are likely to be made with the small parties, ahead of the vote.

"The government is on tenterhooks," he said. "So, incidentally, are the opponents of the government. There are political agreements to be struck. Some of the smaller parties do have rather important platforms of their own. One for them, for instance, wants a smaller state. Another believes ethanol ought to be subsidized."

Political opponents of the Congress Party are accusing the it of bending backwards¹⁷ to accommodate demands from smaller groups - accusations¹⁸ Congress strongly denies.

The Congress Party says it is confident of winning the vote, but appears prepared for the unexpected. Congress Party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi says the nuclear deal is an "exceptional deal" for the country.

"When you are convinced that something is in the interest of the country, numbers don't matter," he said. "We are going to win the vote, but, even if we don't, it does not matter, because the decision [deal] is in the interests of this country."

A victory for the government will mean it can seek approvals from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group so that the deal can then go the U.S. Congress for approval. A defeat will mean early elections for India and a period of political uncertainty¹⁹.

　

 

1 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。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

5 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。

6 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

7 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。

8 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。

9 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

10 comity   

n.礼让，礼仪；团结，联合

参考例句：

• Sometimes comity is regarded as a stimulus to the pattern of behaviour.礼让有时被视作行为模式的一个促进因素。
• The basic feature of positive comity is its voluntariness.积极礼让的基本特征是它的自愿性。

11 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

12 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

13 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

14 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 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。

16 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。

17 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

18 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。

19 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。