VOA标准英语2008年-Ukrainian Coalition Collapses Amid Political In

Political infighting has led to the collapse¹ of Ukraine's governing coalition², raising the prospect³ of difficult negotiations⁴ to form a new government or a third parliamentary election in as many years. VOA correspondent Peter Fedynsky has been following the Ukrainian political drama from Moscow.

Ukraine's governing coalition collapsed⁵ less than 10 months after it was formed with a bare minimum of votes in the country's 450-seat parliament, the Supreme⁶ Rada. President Viktor Yushchenko's political party left the coalition earlier this month, and Speaker Arseny Yatsenyuk made the collapse official on Tuesday.
　
Spokeman of Ukraine's Parliament, Arseny Yatsenyuk, addresses the parliament in Kyiv, 16 Sept. 2008

Yatsenyuk made the official announcement regarding the termination of the Coalition of Democratic Forces in the Supreme Rada of Ukraine, which was created by the presidential party, Our Ukraine, and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc⁷ on November 29, 2007.

Ms. Tymoshenko, the Ukrainian prime minister and President Viktor Yushchenko both have presidential ambitions and have long been at odds⁸ over domestic policy. She is a populist that generally favors government regulation while he prefers the free market. Their latest row was sparked by a bitter dispute over the Georgian conflict. Mr. Yushchenko openly sided with Georgia and some of his supporters accused Ms. Tymoshenko of treason for failure to condemn⁹ Russia. Last week, she joined forces with opposition¹⁰ leader Viktor Yanukovych to engineer a move to transfer some presidential powers to the prime minister.

In 2004, Ms. Tymoshenko and Mr. Yushchenko were allies in the Orange Revolution in which hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets to protest an election that was rigged in favor of Viktor Yanukovych. He continues to harbor presidential ambitions and addressed the Rada Tuesday following the government's collapse.

Yanukovych refers to the Democratic Coalition as a wagon¹¹ that has stopped and concluded its journey. He says this is the end of the road and everyone can come down.

Viktor Yanukovych's Regions Party and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc have the numbers to create a new coalition, but the prime minister has long ruled out any alliance with the Regions Party.
　
Alexander Lytvynenko

Independence political observer Alexander Lytvynenko of the Razumkov Center in Kyiv told VOA that Ukraine's political struggles reflect ambitious personalities¹² and highly differentiated¹³ social, cultural and regional differences of the Ukrainian people.

Lytvynenko says those differences have historic underpinnings, prompting some to favor closer ties with the West, others with Russia, and others still to favor strict neutrality. He notes, however, that pro-Russian sympathies in eastern or southern Ukraine should not be confused with separatism.

Lytvynenko says only insignificant¹⁴ percentages of people throughout Ukraine favor separatism in favor of another country, even in Crimea or the Luhansk Region on Ukraine's eastern border with Russia. He says what the regions want instead is greater freedom on economic issues, including the right to determine local budgets.

Lytvynenko doubts whether the current parliament will be able to form a new coalition within a required 30 days, which makes new elections likely. The analyst¹⁵ notes that lawmakers who seek re-election must honor the wishes of their constituents¹⁶, adding that Ukrainians have yet to develop a common political world view. This means Ukraine's democracy could continue to experience difficulties.

 

1 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。

2 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。

3 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

8 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

9 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

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 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

12 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

13 differentiated   

区分，区别，辨别( differentiate的过去式和过去分词 )； 区别对待； 表明…间的差别，构成…间差别的特征

参考例句：

• The development of mouse kidney tubules requires two kinds of differentiated cells. 小鼠肾小管的发育需要有两种分化的细胞。
• In this enlargement, barley, alfalfa, and sugar beets can be differentiated. 在这张放大的照片上，大麦，苜蓿和甜菜都能被区分开。

14 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

15 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。

16 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》