2007年VOA标准英语-Turkmenistan Prepares to Elect New President

By Lisa McAdams
Moscow
07 February 2007

Turkmen woman passes election posters with candidates in Turkmen capital of Ashgabat, 07 Feb 2007

Voters in Turkmenistan will cast ballots¹, this Sunday, in the country's first multi-candidate presidential election. The election was scheduled following the December death of President Saparmurat Niyazov, who ruled Turkmenistan since 1991. VOA's Lisa McAdams in Moscow has details:

Acting² President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov is believed to be the front-runner in the race, having been openly supported by state media and top ranking officials, including the head of the country's Central Election Commission. He is a long-time Niyazov insider who rose through the ranks to become deputy prime minister.

Unlike all previous elections in Turkmenistan, this one offers voters the choice of six candidates, rather than one. However, the other candidates are little known and all hail from the same political party, the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan. There is no opposition³ candidate in the race.

The West's main election monitoring body, The Organization For Security and Cooperation in Europe, has expressed concerns about the pre-election campaign, particularly regarding the rights of candidates and what the OSCE says is a lack of provisions regulating media coverage⁴ of the campaign.

The OSCE says there was not enough time to send monitors to the elections, but that a team of experts will be sent to Turkmenistan immediately after the vote. It also says it will not be issuing its usual final report assessing the outcome of the elections. 

The director of The Heritage Foundation's Moscow office, Yevgeni Volk, says he is worried the election will not meet Western democratic standards.

"I'm not very enthusiastic about the prospects⁵ for a free and fair election in Turkmenistan. The problem is that for more than a decade, the country suffered from a very tough totalitarian regime and I believe it won't be easy to get rid of its legacy⁶ for quite some time. In fact, Turkmenbashi [Niyazov] passed away quite recently and his successors don't seem, at least so far, the [type of] guys who really want a quick transition to a democratic, free-market economy," said Volk. "In fact, they were brought to power by Turkmenbashi and none seems to be a proponent⁷ [supporter] of democratic and free society."

Analyst⁸ Volk says the election is about more than political power. He says it also holds the promise of near-certain economic struggle among Turkmen clans⁹, all vying¹⁰ for control over huge profits from natural gas, of which Turkmenistan is the former Soviet¹¹ Union's second leading exporter.

At the same time, Volk does not predict major policy changes. He says all six candidates have pledged to continue the late president's policies, if elected.

 

Still, there have been some indications from the campaign trail that at least one of the candidates, Acting President Berdymukhammedov, has been hinting of possible changes. His purported¹² reform pledges cover everything from allowing Internet access to the public, to restoring the educational system.

Volk acknowledges some minor¹³ changes may be inevitable¹⁴, if the government wants to put to rest lingering fears of possible social unrest like that seen earlier in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. But he says the possibility of a so-called "Color Revolution" in Turkmenistan seems unlikely.

"I don't think it will arise," said Volk. "For many years, the opposition was suppressed. The people were deprived of any political institutions or civil society. But, of course, we see examples of other countries. Romania, for example, where unrest swept Ceaucescu in a short period of time. So, I believe it is very difficult to predict what sort of developments in the short-term we'll see in Turkmenistan. And, much will depend on the nature of opposition."

The five other candidates running for president of Turkmenistan include the deputy petroleum¹⁵ industry and mineral resources minister, Ishanguly Nuryev, a city head, Orazmyrad Garajayev, a city governor, Ashirniyaz Pomanov, a parliament deputy, Amanyaz Atajykov, and a district head, Mukhammetnazar Gurbanov.

U.S. State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack says the United States hopes that, as part of the succession process, there will be free, open, fair elections. But he expressed concern, just weeks before the election, that Turkmenistan still, as he puts it, "has a long way to go to reach that goal."

1 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 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。

4 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

5 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。

6 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。

7 proponent   

n.建议者；支持者；adj.建议的

参考例句：

• Stapp became a strong early proponent of automobile seat belts.斯塔普是力主在汽车上采用座椅安全带的早期倡导者。
• Halsey was identified as a leading proponent of the values of progressive education.哈尔西被认为是进步教育价值观的主要支持者。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 clans   

宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派

参考例句：

• There are many clans in European countries. 欧洲国家有很多党派。
• The women were the great power among the clans [gentes], as everywhere else. 妇女在克兰〈氏族〉里，乃至一般在任何地方，都有很大的势力。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

10 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

11 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

12 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

14 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

15 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。