VOA常速英语2008年-Election Count Begins in Pakistan

By Meredith Buel
Islamabad
18 February 2008

Election officials are counting the votes in Pakistan after a key parliamentary election designed to restore democracy following eight years of military rule under President Pervez Musharraf. VOA Correspondent Meredith Buel spoke¹ with voters and election observers in Islamabad.

At the Islamabad College for Boys there were no significant lines of voters, but election officials reported a turnout here of slightly less than 40 percent.

During discussions with Pakistanis after they left the polling station, most voters say they are supporting either former prime minister Nawaz Sharif or the Pakistan People's Party of slain² opposition³ leader Benazir Bhutto. No one we spoke with said they voted for the PML-Q, the main party supporting President Musharraf.

Atiq Rahman says he voted for a candidate aligned⁴ with Mr. Sharif's PML-N party because he disagrees with President Musharraf's decision to have security forces storm the Red Mosque⁵ in Islamabad last July, a move that crushed a Taliban-style movement, but left more than 100 dead.

"I do not want PML-Q to be in the driving seat anymore," said Rahman. "I do not want Musharraf, President Musharraf, to be president. I do want someone else like PML-N."

Ali Mubarak also voted for a candidate backed by Mr. Sharif's party.

"Why? For the democracy, a stable democracy and a stable Pakistan," said Mubarak.

Mr. Musharraf's presidency⁶ is not being contested in this election, but if opposition parties win a two-thirds majority in parliament, they would have enough votes to impeach⁷ him.

Public-opinion surveys released before the election show Mr. Musharraf's popularity has plummeted⁸ during the past year, after he purged⁹ the judiciary and imposed six weeks of emergency rule.

Dr. Tariq Ali Khan says those moves prompted him to vote for the opposition.

"Particularly we are against the Pakistan Muslim League, Qaid-i-Azam League, because their politics are not basically in the interest of our country," he said. "They are supporting just one leader, General Pervez Musharraf. We are in favor of democracy. As you know there is no democracy in the presence of General Pervez Musharraf. Although he thinks that he is the elected president, we do not think so."

Among the several women voters we spoke with, all supported Ms. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party.

Sanam Zulfiqar Khan says Ms. Bhutto's assassination¹⁰ was a personal tragedy for her, but the former prime minister's ideals live on through her party.

"The Pakistan People's Party is the most progressive and liberal party," said Khan. "It is the largest party. It is a national party and I think in terms of what it has to offer to the citizens of this nation is more than any other party so I have chosen to vote for it."

Glen Cowan is with the U.S. observer delegation¹¹ and says he has monitored about 40 elections worldwide.

Cowan says at the polling places he visited in Pakistan the technical aspects of voting appeared to go smoothly¹², but he still has concerns.

"We remain concerned about a series of issues surrounding particularly the women's stations," said Cowan. "We are not entirely¹³ satisfied that the lists were sufficient in number to permit all Pakistanis who wanted to, to vote. Obviously we have to watch the vote count tonight and see that the vote count is done in a manner that actually tabulates¹⁴ the results that come from the polling stations."

The results of pre-election opinion polls reported that opposition parties would do significantly better in the vote than those supporting Mr. Musharraf.

Leaders of the opposition predict the results will be rigged, while President Musharraf says the counting will be free and fair.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

3 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。

4 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

5 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

6 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

7 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

8 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 purged   

清除（政敌等）( purge的过去式和过去分词 )； 涤除（罪恶等）； 净化（心灵、风气等）； 消除（错事等）的不良影响

参考例句：

• He purged his enemies from the Party. 他把他的敌人从党内清洗出去。
• The iron in the chemical compound must be purged. 化学混合物中的铁必须清除。

10 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

11 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

12 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

13 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

14 tabulates   

把（数字、事实）列成表( tabulate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In 2. each page demonstrated tabulates controls, and joins the number of lines different record. 每个页面中显示一个列表控件，并加入行数不同的记录。