The country could not afford the luxury of an election.是什么意思？

The country could not afford the luxury of an election.

该国负担不起选举这样奢侈的事。

the

art. 指已提到的人（物），指说话人与听者已知的人（物），用于独一无二的事物前，与形容词最高级和序数词连用；

例句
He did have a real knowledge of the country...
他对该国的确知之甚多。

country

n. 国家，国民，乡下，地区；

例句
The country was on the brink of an abyss.
国家岌岌可危。

could

aux. “can”的过去式，能够，打算，用于假设语气的条件句，用于虚拟语气的结论句；

例句
The regulations were relaxed and the prisoners could get out and about a bit.
规定有所放宽，犯人可以出去短暂放风。

not

adv. 不，[用以表示否定、否认、拒绝、禁止等]不是，几乎不，未必，没有[用于否定后面的词或短语]；

例句
It became very clear that the incident was not just an aberration, it was not just a single incident.
事实已经很清楚，这件事不是偶发的，它并不是一起孤立的事件。

afford

vt. 买得起，担负得起，提供，给予；

例句
My parents can't even afford a new refrigerator...
我父母甚至买不起一台新冰箱。

luxury

n. 奢侈，豪华，奢侈品，美食，美衣，乐趣，享受，不常有的乐趣（或享受、优势）；adj. 奢华的，豪华的；

例句
She invited 750 people aboard the luxury yacht, the Savarona...
她邀请了750人乘坐豪华游艇“萨瓦罗纳”号。

of

prep. 关于，属于…的，由…制成；aux. 助动词 [非标准用语、方言] =have [主用于虚拟语气]；

例句
He did have a real knowledge of the country...
他对该国的确知之甚多。

an

art. 一（在元音字母前代替不定代词a），一任一某一，一个；

例句
He started eating an apple...
他开始吃苹果。

election

n. 选举，当选，选举权，[神]神的选择；

例句
The country's election commission has advanced the date of parliamentary elections by three days.
该国的选举委员会将议会选举日期提前了3天。