2006年VOA标准英语-Egyptians Ask: Who Will Rule After Mubarak

By Lindsay Wise
Cairo
10 May 2006

 

 
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (April 2006)
  

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has governed for the last 25 years. Many in Egypt have lived most of their lives under his rule. But with Mr. Mubarak turning 78 last week, the country is once again buzzing with what has become a familiar debate in the coffee houses and newspapers of Cairo: Is Mr. Mubarak's son Gamal being groomed¹ to take over for the aging ruler?

------------------------------------

On President Mubarak's 78th birthday last Thursday, his 42-year-old son Gamal held a press conference promoting his father's reform agenda.  As a senior member of the ruling National Democratic Party, Gamal wanted to focus on the Egyptian economy's six percent growth rate and tripling of direct foreign investment. Instead he found himself deflecting² questions about his own political ambitions.
 
When a reporter asked him for the second time to clarify what he meant in a recent television interview when he said that he has "no desire or intention" to become president, Gamal seemed exasperated³. He wagged his finger irritably⁴ at the press corps⁵ as he referred reporters to his previous denials, and tried to get back to his talking points. 

 

Gamal Mubarak talks during a press conference at the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, May 4, 2006   
  

AP reporter: "You said you don't have a desire or intention, but you know … desires do change, and intentions."
 
Gamal: "Let me just respond to this one just to get it out of the way. My statement stands, go back and read my statement, I made it absolutely clear and I'm not going to be dragged into responding to that question again. Go back and read my statement. Okay, back to the first question ..."

AP reporter: "I read them, that's why I told you."
 
Gamal: "Okay, read it again, read it again, read it again."

But as Gamal himself complained at the press conference, the question of whether he will succeed his father as president just won't die.
 
In public, President Mubarak has always denied that he will pass power to his son. Mr. Mubarak says Egypt is not Syria, where the late President Hafez Al Assad's son Bashar Al Assad became president in 2000.
 
Yet Mr. Mubarak has never appointed a vice⁶ president or clarified what would happen in the event of his death or incapacitation. And although the country's constitution was amended⁷ last year to allow multi-party presidential elections, requirements for candidacy are so strict that few actually qualify to run. Meanwhile, Georgetown University Professor Samer Shehata says years of corruption⁸ and political repression⁹ have taken their toll¹⁰ on opposition¹¹ parties and politicians, leaving few contenders strong enough to contest the presidency¹².
 
"If you're an Egyptian, and you look at the political scene and you don't see alternatives, and you see the increasing importance and public profile of Gamal Mubarak, then you come to the conclusion that it could very well be that Gamal Mubarak will be the next president of Egypt," Shehata said.
 
But Shehata says Gamal's legitimacy¹³ among Egyptians is questionable¹⁴. Unlike all of Egypt's past presidents, the younger Mubarak never served in the military or held elected office. Even if Egypt is ready for its first civilian¹⁵ president, Shehata says, Gamal Mubarak may not have the pull within the ruling party, or Egypt's powerful army, to consolidate¹⁶ his rule. 

 
Hisham Kassem
  
Hisham Kassem, chief of the independent Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm, argues that Gamal owes his political status entirely¹⁷ to his father's influence.

"I've never taken Gamal Mubarak seriously," Kassem said. "Most of his clout¹⁸ comes from the fact that his father is the president and he's going to lose altitude drastically once his father is dead or out of office. He certainly is not the next president in Egypt. He doesn't have the qualifications."
 
For now, Gamal Mubarak maintains he is simply dedicated¹⁹ to serving his country. He says, despite some "setbacks," including accusations²⁰ of electoral fraud, corruption and violence, 2005 was a watershed²¹ year for Egyptian reform, and there is no going back.
 
"Now, are we having problems? You bet we are? Are we stumbling in certain areas? Yes. Are we having some problems with Parliament and even our own members? You bet we do. But this is politics," Gamal Mubarak said.
 
Yet few Egyptians buy Gamal Mubarak's efforts to paint himself as a genuine reformer. 
 
The day before Gamal's press conference, several hundred demonstrators gathered in downtown Cairo to protest an ongoing²² government crackdown that has resulted in the detentions²⁴ and beatings of scores of opposition activists²⁵ in recent weeks. These protesters see Mubarak's son as complicit in the human rights violations²⁶ and corruption of his father's regime.
 
The rally was organized by a group known as Kifaya - Arabic for Enough. Kifaya was formed in 2004 to protest President Mubarak's rule and reject the possibility of his son becoming president after him. But despite growing domestic opposition, Mr. Mubarak was re-elected in September with 88 percent of the vote. Shortly afterwards, Gamal was promoted to assistant secretary-general of the ruling National Democratic Party in a move that many Egyptians interpreted as just the latest sign Gamal Mubarak's ascendancy²⁷.

But 24-year-old protester Alaa Abdel Fatah said Egyptians will never accept Gamal Mubarak as president.
 
"I know that no one would accept it," he said. "I mean, even as we see a lot of people accepting Mubarak's rule now in Egypt … I seriously doubt people would accept Gamal's rule. The notion of inheriting a country would be too much even for the most passive Egyptians."
 
Three days after this interview, Abdel Fatah and seven of his fellow opposition activists were detained during a peaceful protest. They remain in jail, accused, among other things, of insulting the president. The detention²³ of Abdel Fatah and dozens of other protesters in the course of the last month demonstrates that the powerful institution of the presidency, and its future, remains²⁸ a volatile²⁹ subject in Egypt.

1 groomed   

v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• She is always perfectly groomed. 她总是打扮得干净利落。
• Duff is being groomed for the job of manager. 达夫正接受训练，准备当经理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 deflecting   

（使）偏斜， （使）偏离， （使）转向( deflect的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A variety of mechanical surfaces have been employed for deflecting the exhaust jets of solid-propellant rockets. 人们已经用过各种类型的机械控制面来偏转固体推进剂火箭的排气流。
• If she made a leading statement, he was expert deflecting her into more impersonal channels. 只要她一开口，他就会巧妙地把她的话题转到与个人无关的问题上去。

3 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

4 irritably   

ad.易生气地

参考例句：

• He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了，暴躁地斥责孩子们。
• On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事，他妻子大声斥责，令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

10 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

11 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。

12 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

13 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

14 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

15 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

16 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

17 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。

18 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

19 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

20 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

21 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

22 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

23 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

24 detentions   

拘留( detention的名词复数 )； 扣押； 监禁； 放学后留校

参考例句：

• Teachers may assign detention tasks as they wish and some detentions have been actually dangerous. 老师可能随心所欲指派关禁闭的形式，有些禁闭事实上很危险。
• Intimidation, beatings and administrative detentions are often enough to prevent them from trying again. 恐吓，拷打和行政拘留足以阻止请愿者二次进京的脚步。

25 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

27 ascendancy   

n.统治权，支配力量

参考例句：

• We have had ascendancy over the enemy in the battle.在战斗中我们已占有优势。
• The extremists are gaining ascendancy.极端分子正逐渐占据上风。

28 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。

29 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。