VOA标准英语 Polls: Indonesia's Muslim Parties Struggle in Upcomi

As voters in Indonesia prepare to go to the polls Thursday, Islamic political parties are struggling to retain support. But traditional Islamic values are still strong.
　
Election officials prepare ballot¹ boxes to be distributed to polling stations in Jakarta, Indonesia, 8 April 2009

Although Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population, Islamic political parties have lost support and polls indicate they are not expected to do well in this week's legislative² elections.

Opinion polls show Indonesians are increasingly concerned about down-to-earth problems like the economy and society rather than religion.

Muslim parties that once focused heavily on Islamic values have had to become more centrist to try to appeal to voters.

Mohamad Sohibul Iman is a candidate for the Prosperous Justice Party, one of Indonesia's larger Muslim parties.

"This is what we are doing now, we are shifting to be more center. Because, we believe that Indonesian population, even 90 percent is Muslim, but the degree of affiliation³ to Islamic values it is very different," he said.

Opinion polls show support for Muslim political parties is down by half from the last elections.

Researcher Sunny Tanuwidjaja, of Jakarta's Centre for Strategic and International Studies, says despite the loss of political support, conservative Islamic values are still strong among the public.

"Religious conservatism, in my opinion, are increasing in Indonesia. There are a lot of local laws that is based on some conservative ideas, conservative religious values, which is very very dangerous for pluralism," he said.

The Indonesian government last year passed a controversial "anti-pornography" law that could be used to ban, among other things, traditional dances and kissing in public.

While the degree of public support for the law is not clear, thousands gathered to demonstrate in favor of it.

There were also efforts to ban Ahmadihyah, a sect⁴ of Islam that believes in another prophet. Despite being a secular⁵ nation with a history of religious tolerance⁶, the Indonesian government last year ordered the group to stop spreading beliefs outside of mainstream⁷ Islam.

Rights groups condemned⁸ the action as an attack on religious freedom and critics accused President Yudhoyono of bowing to hardliners.

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

3 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。

4 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

5 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

6 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

7 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

8 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。