VOA常速英语2007-Georgians Disillusioned with Rose Revolution

By Andre de Nesnera
Washington
16 October 2007

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has been in office for almost four years following the heady days of the Rose Revolution.  But it appears Georgians are disillusioned¹ with his tenure².  In this background report from Washington, VOA Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera looks at the state of Georgian politics.

Mikhail Saakashvili was elected president of Georgia by an overwhelming margin³ in January 2004 following a popular movement known as the Rose Revolution that forced the resignation of the incumbent⁴, Eduard Shevardnadze.

Regional political expert Robert Legvold, from Columbia University, says since coming to power Mr. Saakashvili has been following a two-track domestic policy.

"One is an effort to clean up the mess that existed with the five, six-year deterioration⁵ under Shevardnadze, which meant beginning to attack corruption⁶ at the administrative⁷ and bureaucratic⁸ level, beginning with the street police - but then extending into the state bureaucracies and creating a much, not merely cleaner, but more effective government in order to staunch the economic decline during that period of time," Legvold said. "And he has made considerable progress on this score, in part because of the enthusiasm for the West and therefore the economic support he has got there."

Legvold says Mr. Saakashvili's second domestic goal is the restoration of Georgia's territorial⁹ integrity, bringing the separatist and autonomous¹⁰ regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia under Tbilisi's full control.  Legvold says very little progress has been made in that area and he sees it as a long-term proposition.

On the foreign policy side, Legvold says the Georgian president has followed a very pro-Western tilt¹¹, including potential membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO.

"Saakashvili has come in with the reputation and indeed the affected¹² posture¹³ of an absolute Westernizer, with no particular interest in retaining close ties with any of the rump portions of the former Soviet¹⁴ Union or with Russia."And instead has made a wholesale¹⁵ commitment to movement toward NATO membership and eventually into the European Union," he said.

Experts say when Mr. Saakashvili came to power in 2004, there was a lot of enthusiasm and hope that things would get better in Georgia.

But Olga Oliker, with the Rand Corporation, says that has changed.

"There is a lot of concern in Georgia that the promise that they felt they had from Saakashvili when he came to power, which was of freedom and democracy and free press, is not what they are actually seeing, that they are seeing a pro-Western foreign policy, but they are seeing domestic policies that seem to constrain¹⁶ freedoms rather than entrench¹⁷ them," Oliker said.

Experts say this dissatisfaction became apparent last month following the arrest of former defense¹⁸ minister Irakly Okruashvili, after he accused Mr. Saakashvili of plotting the murder of a prominent businessman.  The Georgian president denied those accusations¹⁹ and Okruashvili subsequently withdrew the charges.  He was released after posting a $6 million bail²⁰ and said he was withdrawing from politics.

Analyst²¹ Cory Welt, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the key fact is that between 10,000 and 15,000 people demonstrated last month in front of Georgia's parliament during the political altercation²² between the Georgian president and his former defense minister and ally.

"The most important thing that has come out of it, so far, is that the opposition²³ did demonstrate that it was able to bring a substantial number of people to the streets, making it clear that there is a lot more dissatisfaction with the ruling party than they might like to admit," Welt said.

Experts say it will be interesting to see whether the opposition gains momentum²⁴ during the run-up to Georgia's presidential election, scheduled to take place late next year.  

1 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。

2 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

3 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

4 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

5 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

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 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

8 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

9 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

10 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。

11 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

14 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

15 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

16 constrain   

vt.限制，约束；克制，抑制

参考例句：

• She tried to constrain herself from a cough in class.上课时她竭力忍住不咳嗽。
• The study will examine the factors which constrain local economic growth.这项研究将考查抑制当地经济发展的因素。

17 entrench   

v.使根深蒂固；n.壕沟；防御设施

参考例句：

• A series of measures were designed to entrench democracy and the rule of law.采取一系列措施旨在巩固民主和法制。
• These dictators have entrenched themselves politically and are difficult to move.这些独裁者在政治上已经站稳了脚跟，很难推翻他们。

18 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

19 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。

20 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

21 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

22 altercation   

n.争吵，争论

参考例句：

• Throughout the entire altercation,not one sensible word was uttered.争了半天，没有一句话是切合实际的。
• The boys had an altercation over the umpire's decision.男孩子们对裁判的判决颇有争议。

23 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。

24 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。