[ti:Young Female Somali Lawmaker Fights Corruption]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]更多听力请访问21VOA.COM
[00:00.04]Amina Mohamed Abdi was just 24 years old
[00:05.56]when she was first elected to Somalia's parliament in 2012.
[00:12.16]She defeated two other candidates
[00:15.20]to win a seat saved specifically for women.
[00:20.12]But to reach her political goal,
[00:23.00]Abdi had to go against the wishes of leaders in her Hawiye clan.
[00:30.00]Some had urged her not to run for office.
[00:35.04]"I was asked ‘you want to be a prostitute?
[00:39.04]How can a woman represent a clan?'" she told Reuters.
[00:44.36]Abdi dismissed the comments and kept her plans.
[00:50.44]She says she thought it was important to run
[00:54.12]because a clan is not only made up of men.
[00:59.88]Four years later, she won an open seat in Hiran,
[01:04.20]an area north of the capital Mogadishu.
[01:09.00]Abdi is now 32 years old
[01:12.48]and is an active critic of her government.
[01:16.92]She will seek a third term in an upcoming election.
[01:22.12]She is the only woman among six politicians
[01:26.56]competing for the same seat.
[01:29.64]Abdi is a member of the opposition's
[01:33.24]Union and Peace for Development party.
[01:38.20]She is one of 81 women lawmakers in the 275-seat legislature.
[01:47.28]Somalia is a country with a long history of war and fighting.
[01:54.52]Abdi grew up during a violent civil war that started in the early 1990s.
[02:02.88]It is estimated that around 300,000 people died
[02:08.04]of hunger and disease as a result of the fighting.
[02:13.48]Growing up in this environment
[02:15.92]made Abdi want to enter politics to help rebuild her country.
[02:23.00]As an eight-year-old, she remembers returning from school in Mogadishu
[02:28.04]to find her house empty and her family gone after fighting broke out.
[02:35.04]"Everywhere there were gunshots and mortar shells were landing," she said.
[02:42.00]Abdi later lived with her uncle, who is also in parliament,
[02:46.88]and he inspired her further to work toward her goal.
[02:52.04]"I was ... brought up ... in a country when there was no government," she said.
[02:59.68]"It is necessary for our children to have a government
[03:03.96]in order to get the basic rights: security, clean water, and quality education."
[03:13.56]Abdi has expressed those wishes during emotional speeches
[03:18.88]to parliament that have spread throughout the country.
[03:24.08]She often accuses the government of corruption
[03:27.96]and says this makes it unable to protect the country's 15 million people.
[03:36.04]The government denies the accusations.
[03:39.84]Canab Hussein is a Mogadishu store owner and mother of six.
[03:47.44]She told Reuters, "Lawmaker Amina is not from my state but I love her."
[03:55.12]"I learnt (about her) over the radio and on Facebook and YouTube.
[04:01.24]She is a role model, a smart female politician.
[04:05.72]She bravely speaks the truth," Hussein said.
[04:10.92]The parliamentary elections were set to take place in December
[04:15.76]but have repeatedly been delayed.
[04:19.36]The opposition has accused President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed
[04:25.24]of cheating by putting his allies on an electoral board.
[04:31.64]The election delay led to protests in Mogadishu
[04:35.80]and the opposition has threatened to boycott the upcoming voting.
[04:41.84]Winners of the legislative elections will choose Somalia's next president.
[04:49.12]President Mohamed is seeking a second term.
[04:54.00]That vote is planned for February 8, but it is almost sure to be delayed.
[05:02.48]I'm Armen Kassabian. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM