VOA标准英语2008年-Malaysian Opposition Leader Warns of Fraud as E

By Heda Bayron
Hong Kong
24 January 2008

Malaysian opposition¹ leader Anwar Ibrahim is warning of fraud in the country's coming general elections, which are widely expected in March. VOA's Heda Bayron reports from Hong Kong, where the former deputy prime minister has been visiting.

General elections are not required in Malaysia until next year, but Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi is now widely expected to schedule polls as early as March.  The country's opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, says the early date is aimed at preventing him from running for office.

Anwar was deputy prime minister until he was charged and convicted of corruption² and sexual crimes in the late 1990's.   The conviction on sexual crimes was overturned, but the corruption verdict was allowed to stand, leaving him barred from running for office until this coming April 8.

In Hong Kong Thursday, Anwar warned of possible "massive" election fraud by the ruling coalition³ as it comes "under siege" from ethnic⁴ and economic discontent and allegations of corruption.

"These elections would be very difficult, and in fact defining for the country," he said.  "Our problem is fair and free elections… If it could be proven that there's massive rigging, I don't think it will fare well for the civility of the country."

His party, Keadilan, says electoral fraud has already begun, such as the registering of "phantom⁵ voters" in small constituencies well ahead of the polls.

The United Malays National Organization or UMNO, has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957, and Prime Minister Abdullah has been in office since 2004. He acknowledged Wednesday that his coalition is unlikely to replicate⁶ its landslide⁷ victory of 2004. At that time, public expectations were high that his government would get rid of corruption and address the needs of the country's poorer citizens.

But recently, Mr. Abdullah's government has had to confront a series of issues - an embarrassing sex scandal involving a cabinet minister, inflation, alleged⁸ corruption in the judiciary, and rare protests by ethnic Indians over alleged discrimination.

Keadilan, or the Justice party, fared poorly in the 2004 elections, winning only one seat in Parliament.  Anwar says he hopes public dissatisfaction will work in his party's favor this time. 

"I am optimistic the result would be impressive that it would even shake not only the two-thirds majority (of the coalition in Parliament), but also the strength of the ruling UMNO-led coalition," he said.

Anwar, a former UMNO stalwart, was seen as the coming leader until he and then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad split in the late 1990's.  Anwar was convicted of sodomy and corruption and sent to prison, even though international human rights groups called the charges politically motivated and condemned⁹ his detention¹⁰.

Mr. Mahathir stepped down in 2003, and a court overturned the sodomy conviction and released Anwar the next year. But the conviction for corruption meant Anwar was prohibited from taking part in political activities for four years.

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 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

6 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

7 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

8 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

9 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

10 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。