美国国家公共电台 NPR Japan's Prime Minister Isn't Popular, But His Coalition Won A Supermajority

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's party now has a two-thirds super majority in the parliament. That's after voters cast ballots² in a snap election over the weekend. Abe sought a mandate³ for issues ranging from the economy to the military, and his party appears to have received a mandate even though Japanese voters seem unexcited about the man at the top. NPR's Elise Hu reports.

ELISE HU, BYLINE⁴: Rain drenched⁵ much of Japan this election day as the outer bands of a typhoon moved in, but it didn't deter⁶ voters like Omi Kumiko. She showed up at a polling place in Tokyo's Shinjuku neighborhood to cast a ballot¹ against Shinzo Abe's ruling party the Liberal Democrats⁷, or LDP.

OMI KUMIKO: (Speaking Japanese).

HU: "I've been opposed to the LDP for a long time," Kumiko says, "and I know that turnout tends to go down when there's rain so I made sure to come out and vote."

HU: She is part of the minority of voters who picked anybody but those in Abe's party. His ruling LDP represents Japan's establishment conservative wing, and it's dominated Japanese politics all but a few times since 1955.

JEFFREY KINGSTON: The LDP might not win a lot of enthusiastic endorsement⁸ from voters, but they are considered better than the alternative.

HU: That's Jeffrey Kingston, who heads Asia studies at Japan's Temple University. In this election, the existing alternative, the opposition⁹ Democratic Party, split up and the upstart parties that took its place to challenge Abe are only weeks old.

KINGSTON: He doesn't really have plausible¹⁰ strong rivals, and he's going to make the case to everybody, look, flaws and all, in the middle of a national security crisis, do you really want to trust these untested leaders of newbie parties? And he's winning that argument.

HU: Voter Akira Wada told us it was enough to convince him to choose the LDP.

AKIRA WADA: (Through interpreter) Rather than political policy, it's about electing someone you can trust. I believe they're trustworthy.

HU: The trust issue comes into focus especially during tense times. Twice this year, North Korea's missiles have flown over Japan, triggering sirens, the J-alert emergency text message system and giving residents a scare. Jeff Kingston.

KINGSTON: This creates a rally-around-the-flag tendency, and so this has clearly benefitted Abe and the LDP.

HU: Still, as he pushes ahead with economic stimulus¹¹ and possible changes to Japan's post-war pacifist constitution, Abe is not personally popular. A majority of respondents in public opinion polls said they don't want Abe to continue as prime minister, but he will because of no plausible alternatives and voter apathy¹².

DAICHI KIMURA: (Through interpreter) It doesn't matter who gets elected. Nothing will change. So why even vote?

HU: Tokyo resident Daichi Kimura speaks for the nearly half of Japanese eligible¹³ voters here who didn't cast a ballot at all this election.

KIMURA: (Through interpreter) And even if the people at the top change, nothing is going to change in Japan.

HU: To make those frustrations¹⁴ known, a group called the Support No Party Party got on the ballot this time around. Enough voters picked it that the No Party Party captured more than a hundred-thousand votes. Its signature issue is that it's sick of politicians. Elise Hu, NPR News, Tokyo.

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 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》

3 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 drenched   

adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• We were caught in the storm and got drenched to the skin. 我们遇上了暴雨，淋得浑身透湿。
• The rain drenched us. 雨把我们淋得湿透。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

9 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。

10 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

11 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

12 apathy   

n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡

参考例句：

• He was sunk in apathy after his failure.他失败后心恢意冷。
• She heard the story with apathy.她听了这个故事无动于衷。

13 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

14 frustrations   

挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意

参考例句：

• The temptation would grow to take out our frustrations on Saigon. 由于我们遭到挫折而要同西贡算帐的引诱力会增加。
• Aspirations will be raised, but so will frustrations. 人们会产生种种憧憬，但是种种挫折也会随之而来。