VOA慢速英语:Burma’s Elections a Test for Reforms

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
Burma is holding elections on Sunday. Voters will fill forty-five seats in elections for the national legislature or parliament.
缅甸将于周日举行选举。选民将在选举中为立法机关或议会选出45个议席。

This will be the first vote in the country since the end of almost fifty years of military rule. Yet the armed forces still have strong influence over the government.  One-fourth of the seats are for military appointees.
这是该国结束结果了近50年的军事统治后举行的第一次选举。然后，军队仍然对政府有很大的影响力。四分之一的席位是军事任命

Burma’s legislature has four hundred forty seats in the lower house and a two hundred twenty-four seat Senate.
缅甸的立法机关在下议院有440个席位，在参议院有224个席位。

Two years ago, the Union Solidarity and Development Party won seventy-six percent of the vote in the most recent elections. Since then, the government has eased restrictions on the media and freed hundreds of political prisoners.
两年前，联邦巩固与发展党在最近的一次选举中赢得了76%的选票。从那时起，政府就放宽了对媒体的限制，并释放数百名政治犯

It also released the country’s most famous opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from house arrest. These developments have led to positive reactions from western countries, including the United States. Late last year, Hillary Clinton became the first American Secretary of State to visit Burma in fifty years.
它也释放了被软禁的该国最著名的反对派领导人昂山素季。事情的发展获得了来自包括美国在内的西方国家的积极回应。去年年底，希拉里•克林顿成为50年来第一位访问缅甸的美国国务卿。

Aung Zaw is with the online newspaper, “The Irrawaddy.” He recently visited Burma after living in exile for twenty years. He says many Burmese are guarded about the reforms.
Aung Zaw接受网络报纸伊洛瓦底新闻网的采访。他在20年的流亡生活之后重回缅甸。他说，许多缅甸人对此次选举很谨慎。

AUNG ZAW: “I find and discover a lot of very skeptical voices.  And people remain very, very, very, very, very skeptical about this reform process in our country.  A lot of people inside the country who speak Burmese, who read Burmese, who can communicate in our own language, don’t wear their rose-colored glasses.”
AUNG ZAW：“我发现了许多质疑的声音。人们仍然对我们国家的改革进程非常怀疑。国内许多说缅甸语的人，能用我们的语言交流的人，并不感到乐观。”

Burmese exiles have long been critical of Burma’s government.
缅甸流亡者长期以来一直批评缅甸政府。

The opposition National League for Democracy did not take part in elections two years ago. The party won parliamentary elections in nineteen ninety, but Burma’s rulers never recognized the results.
反对派全国民主联盟两年前并没有参加选举。该党在1996年赢得了议会选举，但缅甸的统治者并不承认这一结果。

This year, party leader Aung San Suu Kyi is a candidate, and is expected to win a seat in the legislature. On Friday, the Nobel Peace Prize winner met with reporters and diplomats at her home in Rangoon. She said her party’s candidates faced threats and violence in the election campaign. And, she said the vote on Sunday cannot be called free and fair.
今年，该党领导人昂山素季是其中一名候选人，并有望在立法机构赢得一个席位。上周五，这名诺贝尔和平奖获得者在仰光的家中会见了记者和外交人士。她说，该党候选人在竞选中面临了威胁和暴力。而且她说，周日的选举不能被称为是自由和公正的。

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: “I don’t think we can consider it a genuinely free and fair election if we take into consideration what has been going on for the last couple of months. But still, as we wish to work towards national reconciliation, we will try to tolerate what has happened. And we hope that the courage and resolution of the people will overcome the intimidations and other irregularities that have been taking place.”
AUNG SAN SUU KYI：“如果我们考虑过去几个月发生的事情，我不认为我们可以把它当作是一次真正自由和公证的选举。但是，由于我们要努力实现民族和解，我们将尽量容忍已经发生的事情。我们希望人们的勇气和决心会克服这些已经发生的恐吓和其他违规行为。

Some observers say the recent changes in Burma will have a big effect. Reporter Thiha Saw says the vote will be an important test for the country.
一些观察家称，缅甸最近发生的变化将会产生重大的意义。记者Thiha Saw称，此次选举将成为该国的一次重大考验。

THIHA SAW: “I watch it very closely because this will be something like a marker or a test about the sincerity of the regime. Are they going to make it really free and fair?  If it is going to be free and fair, the people in the western communities will start lifting the sanctions. So this is important for Burma as well as for the international community, too.”
THIHA SAW：“我会密切监督，因为这将成为一个里程碑式的事件，或对政府诚意的考验。他们是否会给予这次选举真正的自由和公正？如果它是自由公正的，西方国家将开始解除制裁。所以这对缅甸和国际社会来说同样重要。”

Other observers are less hopeful for a fair vote, but say it will still be important. Burma’s government has invited observers from Asia, Australia, Canada, the European Union and the United States to witness the voting. Reporters from around the world are in Burma to report on the elections.
其他观察员对选举的公平性不抱太大希望，但称其仍是非常重要的。缅甸政府已邀请了来自亚洲，澳大利亚，加拿大，欧盟和美国的观察员见证了投票。来自世界各地的记者齐聚缅甸对选举进行报道。