VOA慢速英语:Pakistani Voters are Concerned about Economy

Pakistan is preparing for national elections next month, many likely voters seem more concerned about the economy than stopping militant violence.
巴基斯坦正为下月的全国选举做准备，许多潜在选民似乎更关注经济而不是阻止激进暴力。

But few Pakistanis are hopeful for changes. Zafar Saeed directs an occupational training centre in Islamabad, the capital. For the past ten years, the centre has trained thousands for work in an increasingly difficult economy. Now his own business is struggling from power cuts and inflation, he blames the government for the situation.
但没几个巴基斯坦人能指望有什么改变，Zafar Saeed是伊斯兰堡一家就业培训中心负责人。在过去十年日益艰难的经济中，该中心累计培训了数千人。现在他的生意正在停电和通货膨胀中苦苦挣扎。他将这一局面归咎于政府。

"Our organization has suffered major financial losses, particularly over the past five years, because prolonged power outages have not allowed us to perform our activities. The other main reason is inflation because people can no longer afford to pay for their fees to learn income-generating skills.”
“我们中心遭受了重大的财政损失，尤其是过去五年间，因为断电时间很长，我们没办法做培训。另一个主要原因是通货膨胀，因为人们不再有能力支付学费来学习创收技能。”

Many people share his opinion. Street protests against power cuts are common in Pakistan. Some cuts can now last all day long.
许多人都有这样的看法，巴基斯坦街头抗议停电的游行司空见惯。现在有些停电会持续一整天。

Ashfaque Hassan Khan is a professor at the Nast Business School in Islamabad.
Ashfaque Hassan Khan是伊斯兰堡纳斯特商学院教授。

"We are facing economic challenges and the reason for this is that for five years the economy has never been on the radar of the government.”
“我们目前着经济困难，这是因为过去五年来政府根本不关心经济。”

He also says part of the problem has been too little political will to fix the national tax system. Less than one percent of Pakistan’s 180 million people pay income taxes. About 70 percent of federal lawmakers did not complete any income tax documents last year, most of them are likely to be returned to parliament in the elections.
他说，问题的部分原因是，政府不大愿意整顿全国税收体系。在巴基斯坦1.8亿人口中，只有不到1%的人缴纳个税。大约70%的议会议员去年没有填写任何所得税文件，他们中的大多数在这次选举中可能会重返议会。

As professor Khan notes, that makes it more difficult to ask the country's major donors for help.
正如Khan教授所说，这样一来，请求该国的主要捐赠者提供更多帮助就更难了。

"There is a genuine complaint from [the] international community because their taxpayers have started raising questions that 'why should our government give our taxpayer money to Pakistan when [the] Pakistani government doesn’t tax their own rich and influential people?'”
“国际社会一直投诉不断，因为它们的纳税人质疑‘为何我们的政府将我们纳税人的钱给巴基斯坦，而巴基斯坦政府却不向本国最富有和有势力的人征税呢？’”

60 percent of the Pakistani population is under the age of 25. Recent opinion surveys show most young people are concerned about unemployment, power shortages, and corruption.
巴基斯坦有60%的人口年龄在25岁以下。最近的民意调查显示，大多数年轻人都关心失业、停电和腐败问题。

Maleeha Lodhi is a former ambassador to the United States. She says young people have grown less hopeful about the future.
Maleeha Lodhi是前任巴基斯坦驻美国大使。她说，年轻人已经逐渐对未来失。

"So, the message to Pakistan’s next government is a very strong one. And that message is deal with the economy otherwise young people will opt out of the system and when young people opt out of the system and lose faith then frankly, the future prospects for any country begin to look very bleak."
“因此，我们向巴基斯坦下届政府传达的信号很明确，就是解决经济问题，否则年轻人将退出这个系统。当年轻人脱离体制并失去信心，那么坦白说，国家的未来前景便会显得非常暗淡。”

To build support among young voters, some political parties are promising to reduce unemployment, and fight corruption. However, opinion surveys have shown low ratings for politicians, this is why voters like Zafar Saeed are wondering whether the next government will be any different from the last one.
为了赢得年轻选民的支持，有的政党承诺降低失业率并打击腐败。但民调显示政客的评分很低，因此像 Zafar Saeed 这样的选民都觉得下届政府和上届政府不会有太大区别。