美国国家公共电台 NPR In Election Upset, Malaysia's Mahathir Returns To Power After 15 Years

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

As far as political upsets go, this one was huge. In Malaysia, the party that has ruled that country for the past 60 years is out along with its controversial prime minister, Najib Razak. The party was beaten by an opposition¹ coalition² led by the 92-year-old former prime minister, the man credited with Malaysia's rapid modernization³ in the 1980s. Michael Sullivan reports from Bangkok.

MICHAEL SULLIVAN, BYLINE⁴: Prime Minister Najib Razak did all he could to stack the deck this election - gerrymandering voting districts, promising⁵ political pork and even passing a fake-news law to stifle⁶ dissenting⁷ voices just before the election. It didn't work.

BRIDGET WELSH: I think Malaysia has moved in a very brave direction. It's repudiated⁸ the government that's been in power for 61 years in a rout⁹. And I think it's entering a new period of its political history with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of hope.

SULLIVAN: Bridget Welsh is an associate professor at John Cabot University in Rome and has written several books about Malaysia. Reached via Skype in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, she says much of the electorate¹⁰ was simply unhappy with the high cost of living, unpopular tax hikes and embarrassed by the so-called 1MDB scandal. Billions of dollars siphoned off from a government investment fund linked to Prime Minister Najib and his family, a scandal now being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department.

And then there was the 92-year-old former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, an unlikely champion of democracy given his authoritarian¹¹ track record but a man people knew and, says Bridget Welsh...

WELSH: Mahathir compared favorably to Najib. And the implication was that he was a pull factor. He was a game-changer. And these two things, the push from Najib and the pull from Mahathir, led to quite significant changes - 20 percent swings in many areas in electoral politics, where these are huge numbers.

SULLIVAN: Umapagan Ampikaipakan is a Malaysian radio host and commentator¹² who says a lot of people are still trying to get their heads around the fact that the party that ruled for 61 years is out.

UMAPAGAN AMPIKAIPAKAN: People don't know what to make of it. There is a sense of elation¹³ because there is the sense of change, which has never, ever happened. I don't think anyone was expecting it because it's very similar to kind of a Brexit-Trump situation in that almost every opinion poll, almost every survey done, almost every op-ed written had Najib Razak returning to power - maybe with a slimmer majority. So this was quite a shock to most people.

SULLIVAN: And a welcome change for democracy advocates in a region that's been tilting¹⁴ toward authoritarianism¹⁵, not democracy, in recent years in Cambodia, in Thailand and in the Philippines.

For NPR News, I'm Michael Sullivan in Bangkok.

(SOUNDBITE OF DR. TOAST'S "LIGHT")

1 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。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 modernization   

n.现代化，现代化的事物

参考例句：

• This will help us achieve modernization.这有助于我们实现现代化。
• The Chinese people are sure to realize the modernization of their country.中国人民必将实现国家现代化。

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 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

6 stifle   

vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止

参考例句：

• She tried hard to stifle her laughter.她强忍住笑。
• It was an uninteresting conversation and I had to stifle a yawn.那是一次枯燥无味的交谈，我不得不强忍住自己的呵欠。

7 dissenting   

adj.不同意的

参考例句：

• He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
• A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。

8 repudiated   

v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务）

参考例句：

• All slanders and libels should be repudiated. 一切诬蔑不实之词，应予推倒。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The Prime Minister has repudiated racist remarks made by a member of the Conservative Party. 首相已经驳斥了一个保守党成员的种族主义言论。 来自辞典例句

9 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

10 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

11 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

12 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

13 elation   

n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意

参考例句：

• She showed her elation at having finally achieved her ambition.最终实现了抱负，她显得十分高兴。
• His supporters have reacted to the news with elation.他的支持者听到那条消息后兴高采烈。

14 tilting   

倾斜，倾卸

参考例句：

• For some reason he thinks everyone is out to get him, but he's really just tilting at windmills. 不知为什么他觉得每个人都想害他，但其实他不过是在庸人自扰。
• So let us stop bickering within our ranks.Stop tilting at windmills. 所以，让我们结束内部间的争吵吧！再也不要去做同风车作战的蠢事了。

15 authoritarianism   

权力主义，独裁主义

参考例句：

• Modern authoritarianism is a vestige of traditional personal rule. 现代独裁主义则是传统的个人统治的残余。
• In its latter days it was a byword for authoritarianism, incompetence, and corruption. 在后期，它是独裁、无能和腐化的代号。