2006年VOA标准英语-Thai PM Hands Power to Deputy Hours After

By Scott Bobb
Bangkok
05 April 2006

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has handed over his duties to a deputy, Chitchai Wannasathit - hours after announcing his resignation in the face of continued political opposition¹. The move comes despite Mr. Thaksin's party winning Sunday's parliamentary elections.

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Thaksin Shinawatra  
  

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced to supporters at his party headquarters Wednesday that Deputy Prime Minister Chitchai Wannasathit had been named caretaker prime minister.

Mr. Thaksin called for reconciliation² among all Thais and pledged his Thai ak Thai party will continue to work for the people.

The move comes hours after the Thai leader agreed to step down in the interests of national unity³.

The opposition is cautiously welcoming the resignation.

A leader of the Democrat⁴ Party and former foreign minister, Surin Pitsuan, says Mr. Thaksin is still head of the ruling party which, because of a boycott⁵ by the opposition, won most of the seats in Sunday's snap elections.

"The political ills before the crisis - whether it's corruption⁶, abuse of power and conflict of interests - all these things have absolutely no guarantee that they will improve," he said.

Meanwhile protesters say they will end months of anti-government rallies for now. Sondhi Limthongkul is one of the main protest organizers.

But he says if Mr. Thaksin continues as head of the ruling party, the demonstrations⁷ will resume by the end of the month.

Mr. Thaksin resigned two days after the elections showed a third of voters cast protest abstention ballots⁸ against him.

Many ruling party candidates, who were running unopposed, were outpolled by abstention ballots in many districts, particularly in Bangkok and Southern Thailand.

Political science Professor Panitan Wattanayagorn says the elections have only undermined the legitimacy⁹ of the Thaksin government.

"The MPs that were running under his party were largely running in uncontested areas," he said. "Number two, his legitimacy in the urban centers, in the very key places including Bangkok, are much reduced."

The author of several books on the Thaksin political era, Pasuk Phongpaichit, says Mr. Thaksin's announcement has eased political tensions.

"The political heat has cooled down quite a lot. And I think from now on it's possible for some negotiation¹⁰ for an acceptable process of constitutional reform," she said.

But political uncertainty¹¹ remains¹² in terms of the new parliament, which cannot convene¹³ until all its seats are filled. Because of the opposition boycott, 39 seats remain vacant and will require new elections in two weeks (April 23). The opposition Wednesday said it would boycott the by-elections as well.

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 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

3 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

8 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》

9 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

10 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

11 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。