2007年VOA标准英语-Thai Democrat Party Cleared of Election Fraud

By Ron Corben
Bangkok
30 May 2007

A constitutional tribunal in Thailand has acquitted¹ the country's second largest party - the Democrats³ - of slander⁴ and bribery⁵ linked to general elections held in April last year. The tribunal has yet to release its judgment⁶ on the party of the ousted⁷ Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. Ron Corben reports from Bangkok.

Democrat2 Party cheer and shout after hearing a verdict of constitution court in their favor, 30 May 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070608/0923520.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Supporters of Democrat Party cheer and shout after hearing a verdict of constitution court in their favor, 30 May 2007

The constitutional tribunal found the Democrat Party not guilty of slander, bribery and false detention⁸ charges linked to general elections last April.

Party leaders, who had faced five-year bans from politics, called for the country to move on and hold a new vote.

The Democrat Party had boycotted⁹ last year's elections, which were later annulled¹⁰.

Instead of punishing the Democrats, the court found several smaller parties guilty of breaching¹¹ electoral laws and said they should be dissolved.

Chulalongkorn University political scientist Thitinan Pongsudhirak says the ruling is significant.

"The clearing of all charges against the Democrat Party has already reshaped the political landscape, because now the Democrats will be allowed to run [in the elections], the evidence has always been less convincing and against Thai Rak Thai," he said.

The ruling was broadcast nationwide on radio and TV, amid heightened security.

Thitinan says a judgment against the former governing party, Thai Rak Thai, could sharply divide the country.

"A lot of Thai Rak Thai supporters around the country will feel this is discrimination, that this is persecution¹² and they will likely protest," said Thitinan. "We will see more rumblings and undercurrents and more volatility¹³ in the coming weeks."

Thai Rak Thai Party executive Ansanee Narpong said, outside the tribunal, the key issue was to return Thailand to democracy following the military coup¹⁴ of last September.

"The bigger problem is how can we go to the real democracy and going to the election - that is more important," said Ansanee.

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, who heads the military government, says a referendum will be held on a newly drafted constitution and elections are planned for mid-December this year.

1 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

2 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。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 slander   

n./v.诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• The article is a slander on ordinary working people.那篇文章是对普通劳动大众的诋毁。
• He threatened to go public with the slander.他威胁要把丑闻宣扬出去。

5 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

6 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

7 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。

8 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

9 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

10 annulled   

v.宣告无效( annul的过去式和过去分词 )；取消；使消失；抹去

参考例句：

• Their marriage was annulled after just six months. 他们的婚姻仅过半年就宣告取消。
• Many laws made by the former regime have been annulled. 前政权制定的许多法律被宣布无效。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 breaching   

攻破( breach的过去式 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。
• Third, an agency can abuse its discretion by breaching certain principles of judge-made law. 第三，行政机关会因违反某些法官制定的法律原则而构成滥用自由裁量权。

12 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

13 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

14 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。