VOA标准英语2009年-Can Ethiopia's Electoral Code Guarantee Fa

By Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
01 November 2009

Ethiopia's parliament is set to adopt an electoral code agreed on by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's ruling party and three of the opposition¹ groups challenging his rule in elections next May. A coalition² of eight other parties boycotted³ negotiations⁵ on the code, saying it fails to address their concerns that the system is rigged in the ruling party's favor. VOA's Peter Heinlein in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa examines the possibilities for a democratic opening in a country seen by many as a de facto one-party state.

 
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (file photo)
Prime Minister Meles sat down with three opposition politicians last week to sign what was hailed as a landmark⁶ electoral Code of Conduct. Speaking in Amharic through an interpreter, Mr. Meles said the agreement would guarantee a level playing field for all competitors in upcoming parliamentary elections.

"This is a document that puts us on an equal footing and puts obligations on the two of us, which forces us to have an election that satisfies the criteria⁷ for democracy," said Meles. "This is a great achievement."

The Code of Conduct appears to answer concerns voiced by the opposition and the international community that Prime Minister Meles's Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front controls the electoral process.

Sitting next to Mr. Meles at the signing ceremony were three top members of the old Coalition for Unity⁸ and Democracy, which mounted a powerful challenge to Mr. Meles party in the 2005 parliamentary vote. That election ended in violence, when CUD demonstrators were gunned down while protesting that the election had been stolen. Many CUD leaders were charged with inciting⁹ the violence and imprisoned¹⁰ for life. They were later pardoned. 

But eight other opposition parties boycotted the Code of Conduct talks and did not sign it, saying the agreement ignores the main issues. The eight, which have formed a coalition called the Forum¹¹ for Democratic Dialogue, say fairness is impossible as long as the prime minister appoints the National Electoral Board and the government maintains its tight control over the media.

A former close associate of Prime Minister Meles, Gebru Asrat, is a vice-chairman and spokesman for the Forum. He says two of the three opposition parties that signed the Code of Conduct are moles¹² with suspicious ties to the government.

"The EPRDF has discussed with parties that seem to approve or endorse¹³ its lines, not the serious parties that do challenge the EPRDF and do have serious issues about the political space in the country," said Gebru Asrat. "As far as we are concerned, nothing substantial has been discussed in this negotiation⁴. This is simply a ploy¹⁴ to show the diplomatic community that the EPRDF is compromising with parties. Who are those parties? We know these parties, except the Unity Party."

The All Ethiopian Unity Party led by Hailu Shewal is the one signatory to the Code of Conduct widely acknowledged as a legitimate¹⁵ independent political force. Engineer Hailu, as he is called, led the CUD to its remarkable¹⁶ showing in the 2005 election, and was among those imprisoned afterward¹⁷.

In a VOA interview, Hailu admitted that many opposition supporters are suspicious of his seeming closeness and conciliatory attitude toward Prime Minister Meles, whose government convicted him of treason and sentenced him to life in prison three years ago.

"I do not blame the people for being like that," said Hailu. "It is our history. We came through all these problems. That is why we say 'our discussions will continue'. Because there are nitty-gritty issues to solve, and the people are concentrating on those nitty gritty issues. They suspect we made a deal, they suspect we are taking advantage of something. Whatever we did, we did it for the people. And it is our job to explain what we did, to explain why we did it."

Hailu says he plans to make next May's election about core philosophical¹⁸ issues, such as the government's control of the country's land resources.

Individuals have a right to own the country's land. To release the people's energy they have to own something. They have to be aiming towards the leaders of their own destiny. But in the case where the government controls all the land, then there is no way that people can become what you call rich, or live a decent life.

Hailu says his Unity Party is the only opposition group with a near-nationwide support base. The Forum's support is seen as mainly among Ethiopia's two largest ethnic¹⁹ groups, the Amharas and Oromos, which comprise 70 percent of the population. But the actual strength of the each group remains²⁰ untested.

The ruling EPRDF, on the other hand, can claim a nationwide party membership of 4.5 million, and a resounding²¹ victory in last year's local council elections. The U.S. State Department's 2008 Human Rights Report on Ethiopia says of the 3.6-million seats contested, the EPRDF and its allied²² parties won all but three.

The International Crisis Group recently issued a report concluding that "the contradiction between [the EPRDF's] de-facto one-party state and its promises to deliver multi-party elections ... has been a defining trait of politics since [it came to power] in 1991."

In response, Ethiopia's foreign ministry²³ called the ICG report 'malicious²⁴ propaganda' that contains extremely serious errors and takes an entirely²⁵ negative tone toward government policies'. 

The Electoral Board has set December 8th as the formal start of the 2010 election campaign. Voting will be May 23.

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 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 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

4 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

5 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。

6 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

7 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

8 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

9 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

10 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

11 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

12 moles   

防波堤( mole的名词复数 )； 鼹鼠； 痣； 间谍

参考例句：

• Unsightly moles can be removed surgically. 不雅观的痣可以手术去除。
• Two moles of epoxy react with one mole of A-1100. 两个克分子环氧与一个克分子A－1100反应。

13 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

14 ploy   

n.花招，手段

参考例句：

• I think this is just a government ploy to deceive the public.我认为这只是政府欺骗公众的手段。
• Christmas should be a time of excitement and wonder,not a cynical marketing ploy.圣诞节应该是兴奋和美妙的时刻，而不该是一种肆无忌惮的营销策略。

15 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

16 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

17 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

18 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

19 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

20 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

21 resounding   

adj. 响亮的

参考例句：

• The astronaut was welcomed with joyous,resounding acclaim. 人们欢声雷动地迎接那位宇航员。
• He hit the water with a resounding slap. 他啪的一声拍了一下水。

22 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。

23 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

24 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

25 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。