VOA标准英语2008年-Malaysian Ruling Coalition Postpones Leadership

Malaysia's ruling party has postponed² a crucial December election to choose its leaders. VOA correspondent Nancy-Amelia Collins in Jakarta has more.

The United Malays National Organization, or UMNO, the biggest party in the coalition³ that has ruled Malaysia since independence, announced Friday it would postpone¹ its December leadership election until March.
　
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi speaks reporters in Kuala Lumpur, 26 Sep 2008

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi declined to squash speculation⁴ the announcement meant he would step down from office, instead telling reporters the delay was meant to help smooth an early transition.

Abdullah had earlier announced he would hand power to his deputy Najib Razak in 2010 instead of the agreed 2012 after facing dissent⁵ from within his party and from opposition⁶ leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Abdullah told reporters he would not make a final decision on whether or not to stay in power until October 9, when party members meet to start the nomination⁷ process. The elected UMNO president becomes the prime minister.

Anwar Ibrahim's opposition coalition won a third of parliament in the March elections - the first time the ruling party lost its majority since independence more than 50 years ago.

Since then the pressure has mounted for Abdullah to step down.

Anwar has repeatedly said he has enough defectors from the ruling coalition to topple the government, but several deadlines he gave have come and gone without results.

Political analyst⁸ Khoo Kay Peng says there are likely several reasons for the postponed elections.

"Definitely Abdullah cannot even handle having dissent within his party. Definitely it has partly to do with Anwar Ibrahim as well. I think a number of disgruntled members in UMNO perhaps would want to look at the outcome of the election before making their plan," said Khoo. "To go with Anwar or whether to stay with the coalition."

Khoo also says Abdullah may be biding⁹ his time by postponing¹⁰ the elections.

"Perhaps this will allow some of these people, who may be thinking of defecting - a chance to really decide once and for all," added Khoo. "So by postponing it to March, these people will have no choice but to hold their position until the March election and Abdullah is hoping that perhaps this will be a very good cooling period."

Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, was ousted¹¹ from power more than 10 years ago after being imprisoned¹² for sodomy - a crime in Malaysia - and corruption¹³, charges he says were politically motivated.

Anwar is now fighting another charge of sodomy which he denies and says has been orchestrated by the government to keep him from taking power.

 

1 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

2 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

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 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

5 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

6 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。

7 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

8 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。

9 biding   

v.等待，停留( bide的现在分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待；面临

参考例句：

• He was biding his time. 他正在等待时机。 来自辞典例句
• Applications:used in carbide alloy, diamond tools, biding admixture, high-temperature alloy, rechargeable cell. 用作硬质合金，磁性材料，金刚石工具，高温合金，可充电池等。 来自互联网

10 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

11 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。

12 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

13 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。