2006年VOA标准英语-Sri Lanka Elections May Affect Direction o

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
30 March 2006

Sri Lanka has held local government elections that are being widely seen as a referendum on President Mahinda Rajapakse's handling of a peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi on how these polls could affect the future of the country's two-decade-long ethnic¹ conflict.

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Sri Lankans went to the polls Thursday to choose local councils, four months after President Mahinda Rajapakse narrowly won national elections with the support of hard-line nationalist parties.

At that time, both Mr. Rajapakse and his allies promised to take a tough line with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Tiger Eelam, who are demanding an autonomous² homeland for the ethnic Tamil minority in the north and the east.

But as violence flared³ and the country faced the prospect⁴ of a return to war, the new president struck a more conciliatory tone, and reopened a dialogue with the rebels.

The rebels responded favorably. The violence has lessened⁵ and peace talks have resumed, if somewhat hesitantly.

However, there are fears that President Rajapakse's peace efforts may receive a setback⁶ if one of its coalition⁷ partners, the People's Liberation Front, or JVP, fares well in Thursday's vote. The Marxist JVP is running its own candidates for the local councils.

The polls are being held in the south of the country, which is dominated by the majority Sinhalese. Because of security concerns, the vote has been postponed⁸ for six months in the north and east, where the rebels hold sway.

Analysts⁹ say if the hard-line JVP increases its share of votes, the president's flexibility¹⁰ in negotiating with the rebels could be severely¹¹ restricted. The JVP has consistently opposed making concessions¹² to the Tamil rebels, who are also known by their initials, the LTTE.

Jehan Perera, the head of the National Peace Council in Colombo, says the polls are being seen as a test of public opinion on the fragile peace process.

"If the popular expectation that the JVP will do better than expected comes about, then the JVP might be able to claim that people voted for it because it is critical of the present peace process," said Perera. "And it will give the JVP more power to dissuade¹³ the President from going on the path that he has agreed to, which is try and meet the LTTE and accommodate them. In that sense a good performance by the JVP would probably negatively impact upon the peace process."

The Tamil Tigers and the government are due to meet next month in Geneva for a second round of resumed peace talks, but in recent weeks both sides have accused the other of breaking promises made at an earlier round.

The Tamil struggle for an independent homeland erupted in 1983. A cease-fire signed in 2002 put the two-decade long war on hold, but there has been little headway in negotiating a solution to the conflict since then.

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

3 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

4 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

5 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。

6 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

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 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

12 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

13 dissuade   

v.劝阻，阻止

参考例句：

• You'd better dissuade him from doing that.你最好劝阻他别那样干。
• I tried to dissuade her from investing her money in stocks and shares.我曾设法劝她不要投资于股票交易。