VOA标准英语2009年-Senior Politician: Marxist Legacy Haun

A veteran Ethiopian politician recently quit his opposition¹ leadership post and called on others of his generation to step aside in favor of younger voices untainted by the country's legacy³ of Marxism.

Peter Heinlein | Ethiopia 16 December 2009

Yakob Hailemariam has experienced the best and worst in his 66 years. He is a former UN prosecutor⁴ in the Rwanda genocide trials. He was also a U.N. special envoy⁵ in the Cameroon/Nigeria border dispute.

After a career as a law professor in the United States, he returned to his native Ethiopia and entered politics. He was elected to parliament in 2005, but never took his seat. Instead he was among 130 opposition leaders arrested in connection with post-election disputes and sentenced to life in prison. They spent 19 months behind bars before being pardoned.

Sitting in his comfortable Addis Ababa apartment, Professor Yakob reflects on Ethiopia's troubled history since the 1970s, when the Marxist dictator Mengistu Hailemariam overthrew⁶ Emperor Haile Selassie. Mengistu was subsequently ousted⁷ in a bloodless 1991 coup⁸ by a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla group led by the current Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Yakob says government policies still reflect Marxist-Leninist principles.

"It's because of that tradition that the ruling party doesn't know how to settle conflicts peacefully," he said.  "They run into throwing people in jail and some hard-handed measures that they take, and this has to go.  And the Marxism-Leninism in this country is reflected in the national policy, too. If you look at the ownership of land, it is government owned.  And many of the means of production, factories, they are still government owned.  So there is a streak⁹ of Marxism still around."

Ruling party spokesman Hailemariam Dessalegn rejects the notion of lingering Marxist-Leninist tendencies. In a telephone interview, he says the government's policies clearly reflect free-market and democratic principles.

"We have clearly put that our policy is the market economy, a free market economy which is also applicable to developing countries, especially Ethiopia. So we are within the free market economy and multi-party democratic system," he explained.

Professor Yakob recently resigned his leadership role in the opposition Unity¹⁰ for Democracy and Justice Party saying even he, like others of his generation, is tainted² by his Marxist past. He laughs at himself when he uses the revolutionary term 'cadres' to refer to party members.

He says the party's prospects¹¹ for next May's parliamentary elections suffered a severe blow when its charismatic young leader Birtukan Mideksa was ordered back to prison for life for saying she had not asked for the pardon that freed opposition politicians jailed in connection with the 2005 dispute.

"The biggest damage done to democratic movement in recent months is the imprisonment¹² of Birtukan Mideksa. She is really an extraordinary young lady, she's young, and she's a woman, and this is exactly what we need in Ethiopia now with no streak of Marxism. And I think it is that realization¹³ that she was a tremendous force that she has been imprisoned," added Professor Yakob.

Prime Minister Meles scoffed¹⁴ at the suggestion Birtukan's re-imprisonment was politically motivated.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (file photo)

"I can't comment on this gentleman's Marxism. And what type of Marxism he was reading and what type of practice he had in his previous party, but if the case of Birtukan is the basis for his assessment¹⁵, then his problem is not Marxism, his problem is dealing¹⁶ with facts," said Prime Minister Meles.  "If he were prepared to deal with facts as they are, he would know that this lady was tried in a court of law.  This has everything to do with elementary notions of rule of law, as opposed to any specific ideology¹⁷, and his problem is he is not sure about this concept of the rule of law, rather than his concept of Marxism."

When asked if there is a possibility of a deal whereby the opposition leader might be freed, Mr. Meles was categorical.  He said, "There will never be an agreement with anybody to release Birtukan. Ever. Full stop."

Leaders of Ethiopia's main opposition coalition¹⁸ say they plan to make Birtukan's release an issue in the 2010 election campaign.  But even the most optimistic acknowledge their chances of victory are very slim in a political arena¹⁹ dominated by Mr. Meles's ruling party.

 

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 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

4 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

5 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

6 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

7 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

8 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

9 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

10 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。

11 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

12 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

13 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

14 scoffed   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
• A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。

15 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

16 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

17 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

18 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。

19 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。