VOA慢速英语2014 印尼前将军挑战选举结果

 

AS IT IS 2014-07-24 Former General Challenges Widodo's Victory in Indonesia 印尼前将军挑战选举结果

The unsuccessful candidate in the Indonesian presidential election has decided¹ to challenge -- or officially dispute -- the result.  Former Army General Prabowo Subianto will ask the country’s Constitutional Court to overturn the vote count.

His spokesman announced his decision on Wednesday.  The announcement came a day after the country’s election commission named former Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo the winner of the July 9th vote.

Mr. Subianto said he believes many people were paid to mark their ballots³ for Mr. Widodo. The former army general accuses the election commission of failing to investigate accusations⁴ of dishonesty.

The court is expected to take about a month to consider the case. Most political observers believe General Subianto will not succeed. 

Edward Aspinall is an expert in Indonesian politics at the Australian National University. He told VOA it would be difficult for the court to overturn a six-point difference in the vote count.

“I think the chances are pretty much close to zero. And there would be no precedent⁵ in recent Indonesian electoral history of a Constitutional Court overturning a result to that extent. The (fraud) allegations also, from what we can see, don’t seem to be particularly strong.”

No violence has been reported following the announcement of the election results. However, thousands of police and military forces have been deployed⁶ in case of unrest.

Mr. Aspinall says many groups that support Prabowo Subianto have been willing to use violence in the past. But he does not believe they will do so now.

“There is a coalition⁷ of organizations or people with the background and history of violence on that particular side, so you can never rule it out entirely⁸. But my sense is that the further we go with the process, the chances of that sort of thing begin to diminish, partly because the coalition that coalesced⁹ around Prabowo during the election campaign is really starting to disintegrate¹⁰.”

Joko Widodo spoke² earlier this week, before the official results were released. The results showed that he won 53 percent of the vote. He said that now is the time for the country to come together after a difficult campaign.

He said he is certain that the struggle to achieve an Indonesia that is sovereign, independent and true to its character can only be achieved if we work together. And, he said, now is the time to work together.

World leaders have already begun congratulating Joko Widodo on his victory. A statement by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States looks forward to working with him.

Many Indonesians believe Mr. Widodo will reform the country’s government. He is one of the few candidates not linked to Suharto, the country’s longtime dictator. Suharto was ousted¹¹ in 1998. He died in 2008.

Prabowo Subianto was once married to a daughter of Suharto. The former presidential candidate took strong nationalist positions during the campaign. Many people were worried that he would move the country away from rights of personal freedom. He has been accused of rights abuses. They include permitting the arrest of democracy activists

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 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》

4 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。

5 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

7 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。

8 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。

9 coalesced   

v.联合，合并( coalesce的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The puddles had coalesced into a small stream. 地面上水洼子里的水汇流成了一条小溪。
• The views of party leaders coalesced to form a coherent policy. 党的领导人的各种观点已统一为一致的政策。 来自辞典例句

10 disintegrate   

v.瓦解，解体，（使）碎裂，（使）粉碎

参考例句：

• The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。
• The plane would probably disintegrate at that high speed.飞机以那么高速飞行也许会四分五裂。

11 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。