VOA标准英语2010年-Niger PM Working with Military Leaders

Soldiers stand guard outside the office of Salou Djibo, leader of the coup¹ that overthrew² Niger's president Mamadou Tandja in Niamey, 21 Feb 2010

Niger's new prime minister says military leaders have given him complete control of the running of a transitional government to organize new elections.  The military took power in a coup last week.

Prime Minister Mahamadou Danda says he is working with the military Supreme³ Council for the Restoration of Democracy on moving forward toward new elections.

At the moment, Prime Minister Danda says the most important thing for both the military and his yet-to-be-appointed government is the creation of a consultative council to bring together all of the stakeholders in Niger's political process to define the priorities of a transitional government. He says the military does not want to assume the right to establish the length of this transition on its own, so it will wait to hear from this consultative council.

Mr. Danda says military leader Major Salou Djibo has assured him that he will have a free hand in conducting the activities of the transitional government. The prime minister says he will not have a huge Cabinet. Instead, he says he will focus on the government's main tasks and will consider the qualifications of those invited to join the Cabinet, along with the military.

Mr. Danda says his government will not include political leaders.

Mr. Danda says it is clear that every citizen of Niger supports one of the parties.  So he says the new government will focus on more technocratic⁴ expertise⁵ and competence⁶, unlike the transitional government that followed Niger's 1999 coup, when political leaders were asked to nominate Cabinet ministers.

The military has already said that none of the members of its ruling council or the transitional government will be allowed to stand in the next election.

Soldiers took power one week ago, toppling President Mamadou Tandja as he chaired a cabinet meeting.  The president had grown increasingly unpopular since using an August referendum to expand his powers and give himself another three years in office.

When Niger's constitutional court and parliament said the referendum was illegal, President Tandja replaced them with new judges and new lawmakers who backed his new government.

The president and six of his ministers remain under house arrest.

 

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 technocratic   

adj.由技术专家官员组成的；受技术官僚影响的

参考例句：

• But there is method in Europe's technocratic madness, the official went on. 但欧洲的专家政治论者的愤怒是有原因的，这个位官员接着说道。 来自互联网
• Mr Juppé was floored in part by his contemptuous, technocratic attitude towards union leaders. 朱佩对工会领导蛮横与不屑，是导致他一败涂地的部分原因。 来自互联网

5 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

6 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。