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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
YANGON, MYANMAR—Vote counting is underway in Myanmar where turnout was more than 80 percent for the nation's first free general election in a quarter of a century.
Some 32 million people were registered to vote to select from more than 6,000 candidates for both houses of the national parliament and regional assemblies.
The country's most famous voter and candidate, National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was surrounded Sunday by hundreds of supporters and journalists at the polling station near her home in Bahan township in Yangon.
She did not speak or acknowledge the crowd as her bodyguards1 made a path for her to the ballot2 box where pandemonium3 erupted as photographers and television cameramen jostled to capture the scene.
Vote Counting Underway in Myanmar
The Nobel Laureate was expected to address her supporters outside NLD headquarters after the polls closed, but she did not appear. The NLD released a statement after the voting ended calling on its supporters to await the results in their own homes and accept the outcome calmly.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated the people of Myanmar, also known as Burma, calling the election "a testament4 to the courage and sacrifice shown by the people of Burma over many decades."
He said the elections were "an important step forward," despite being "far from perfect."
The Union Election Commission (UEC) is scheduled to issue official tabulations six times a day until next Sunday, beginning Monday morning. However, the opposition5 is already claiming victories in a number of townships.
The chief European Union election observer in the country, Alexander Lambsdorff, was upbeat early in the day, but added the election was not free of "flaws or shortcomings." The EU team plans to remain in Myanmar for a week during the post-balloting process.
“We have to see this election within a framework which is not openly democratic in the full sense,” remarked Ireland’s former president, Mary Robinson, observing with the Carter Center.
Millions more people, including Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state, are disenfranchised for a lack of citizenship6 and other reasons.
It is not yet known how many eligible7 voters’ names are missing from the rolls at polling stations, but one observer group, Asian Network for Free Elections, described that as its primary concern.
“I am excited and want to participate seriously,” first-time voter Aye Aye Chit told VOA. “But I’m very worried about cheating.”
That was a concern shared by another female voter in Yangon.
“I want it to be fair and square,” said Kyi Kyi Win shortly after casting her ballot. “I have great confidence in the people.”
Voters could be seen patiently standing8 in the 32 degree heat for more than two hours at some polling states. Some of the elderly were assisted by their children. Others were lifted in their wheelchairs to navigate9 the steps to ballot boxes.
Sien Kyi, 87, emerged unassisted and declared he was “very happy” to have cast his ballot. “I expect change,” he told VOA. “This is a historic day.”
Accepting results
Myanmar’s president has vowed10 to cooperate with opposition parties for a stable transition should the election knock him out of power. “The government and the military will respect and accept the results," President Thein Sein said Friday as campaigning concluded. "I will accept the new government formed based on the election results.”
This is Myanmar’s first election since a nominally11 civilian12 government was established in 2011, a year after opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest and a ban lifted on her National League for Democracy.
Aung San Suu Kyi and her party scored a resounding13 victory in 1990 but were prevented from taking power. The NLD is expected to do well again this time against the Union Solidarity14 and Development Party - USDP - which has the backing of the powerful army.
The ruling party contests the election with one decided15 advantage: 25 percent of the seats in parliament are reserved for military officers.
Watching closely
Several diplomatic missions, including the United States, joined the United Nations in issuing a statement Friday calling “on all stakeholders to ensure that these elections are conducted peacefully, transparently17, and in accordance with the will of the people.”
Britain's ambassador to Myanmar, Julian Braithwaite, said "a vote that is credible18, inclusive and transparent16 and which represents the will of the people would stand as a lasting19 legacy20" for the current government.
At the U.S. State Department, spokesman John Kirby has said key U.S. officials are closely watching the elections as an index of Myanmar's progress from military dictatorship to democracy.
Amnesty International said the jailing of peaceful activists21, restrictions22 on free speech and other discrimination against minority groups are a serious problem undermining the electoral process in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Huge victory needed
Myanmar political experts say the NLD needs to capture 67 percent of the parliamentary seats in Sunday’s election to overcome the military’s veto in the bicameral23 legislature, known as the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, which selects the president.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has urged everyone participating in the general election to ensure a fair, free and smooth vote, is prevented from becoming president even if her party is victorious24. The military junta25 governing in 2008 placed a clause in the constitution barring anyone with a foreign spouse26 or children from holding the highest office. Aung San Suu Kyi’s late husband was British, as are her two children.
“I don’t believe Aung San Suu Kyi can help us. She married a foreigner. That’s why foreigners might govern our country if she wins this election,” Ma Win May, a villager from Sake Gyi on the outskirts27 of Yangon, said at a rally held Friday by the government-organized USDP.
Speaking to reporters Thursday at her residence, Aung San Suu Kyi said if the NLD prevails she “will be above the president.”
Her comment has some observers, not only in Myanmar, apprehensive28. She did not explain her remarks.
“The president should be under the law. Everybody should be under the law,” David Steinberg, distinguished29 professor of Asian studies at Georgetown University in Washington, told VOA. “All of a sudden I think she is saying she would not be subject to that law. So this is a very important deviation30 from what she has said in the past and her beliefs.”
Nearly 7,000 candidates from 91 parties are running for posts in both houses of parliament.
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1
bodyguards
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n.保镖,卫士,警卫员( bodyguard的名词复数 ) | |
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2
ballot
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n.(不记名)投票,投票总数,投票权;vi.投票 | |
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3
pandemonium
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n.喧嚣,大混乱 | |
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4
testament
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n.遗嘱;证明 | |
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5
opposition
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n.反对,敌对 | |
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6
citizenship
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n.市民权,公民权,国民的义务(身份) | |
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7
eligible
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adj.有条件被选中的;(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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8
standing
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n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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9
navigate
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v.航行,飞行;导航,领航 | |
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10
vowed
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起誓,发誓(vow的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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11
nominally
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在名义上,表面地; 应名儿 | |
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12
civilian
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adj.平民的,民用的,民众的 | |
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13
resounding
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adj. 响亮的 | |
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14
solidarity
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n.团结;休戚相关 | |
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15
decided
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adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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16
transparent
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adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的 | |
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17
transparently
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明亮地,显然地,易觉察地 | |
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18
credible
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adj.可信任的,可靠的 | |
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19
lasting
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adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持 | |
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20
legacy
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n.遗产,遗赠;先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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21
activists
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n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 ) | |
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22
restrictions
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约束( restriction的名词复数 ); 管制; 制约因素; 带限制性的条件(或规则) | |
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23
bicameral
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adj.两院制的 | |
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24
victorious
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adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
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25
junta
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n.团体;政务审议会 | |
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26
spouse
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n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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27
outskirts
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n.郊外,郊区 | |
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28
apprehensive
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adj.担心的,恐惧的,善于领会的 | |
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29
distinguished
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adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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30
deviation
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n.背离,偏离;偏差,偏向;离题 | |
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isolated
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adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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coup
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n.政变;突然而成功的行动 | |
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