意大利总理莱塔赢得信任投票

      意大利总理莱塔赢得信任投票 　　

      ROME - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta won a confidence vote on the 2014 budget, reinforcing his coalition¹ government a day before the Senate is expected to ban centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi from parliament over a tax fraud conviction.

　　Berlusconi's Forza Italia party voted against the so-called Stability Law, which it described as "completely mistaken, with neither head nor tail", formalizing its break with Letta after seven months in his left-right coalition.

　　Italy's Prime Minister Enrico Letta (L) arrives with Russia's President Vladimir Putin for a meeting in Trieste November 26, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

　　The measure passed in the Senate shortly after midnight with a majority of 171 to 135, helped by the votes of rebel senators who broke away from Berlusconi earlier this month.

　　However, the decision by the biggest party on the centre-right to pull out of the unwieldy coalition formed after February's deadlocked² election underlined the political instability facing the euro zone's third biggest economy.

　　"From today we are in opposition³ and the grand coalition is over," said Renato Brunetta, lower house leader of Berlusconi's centre-right party, now rebranded as Forza Italia, the name of the movement the billionaire media tycoon⁴ used to enter politics 20 years ago.

　　The vote came less than 24 hours before the Senate is due to decide whether to strip Berlusconi of his seat in the upper house following his conviction in August of being at the centre of a vast tax fraud conspiracy⁵ at his Mediaset television empire.

　　With both the centre-left Democratic Party and the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement set to vote against Berlusconi, an expulsion appears certain - with parliamentary guerrilla warfare⁶ likely to follow.

　　Paolo Romani, Forza Italia floor leader in the Senate, described the Wednesday vote as "the funeral of democracy", but he said his party would still be able to set its stamp on parliament even in opposition.

　　"Anyone who thinks Forza Italia is no longer relevant for the coalition is making a big mistake," he said.

　　Speaking at a joint⁷ news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the northern eastern city of Trieste, Letta said that Italy, still stuck in its worst postwar recession, desperately⁸ needed stability to reform its stagnant⁹ economy.

　　"For us to get back to growth, Italy needs to avoid chaos¹⁰ and that's what I've been working for the past seven months and it's what I'm working for now," Letta said.

　　COURT BATTLE

　　Confidence votes, which limit the scope for time-consuming amendments¹¹, are regularly called to speed legislation. Tuesday's Senate vote on the first reading of the budget was not final approval of the bill, which must be passed by the end of the year.

　　With the European Central Bank guaranteeing market stability, Italy has not seen the kind of turbulence¹² it went through at the height of the euro zone debt crisis in 2011, but the prospect¹³ of disruption has caused alarm outside the country.

　　European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, a leading member of the centre-right European People's Party, called Berlusconi in a last-minute bid to try to prevent a break with Letta's government, Forza Italia lawmakers said.

　　With only hours to go before the vote in the Senate, officials were making last-minute corrections to the text which has been widely criticised for not going far enough to cut spending and overhaul¹⁴ Italy's battered¹⁵ public finances.

　　As well as cuts to the top level of pensions, the budget will trim the so-called "tax wedge", the difference between labour costs to an employer and a worker's actual take home pay, although it has not gone as far as business groups have demanded in cutting payroll¹⁶ costs.

　　It will also replace the hated IMU housing tax on primary residences with a new set of property taxes grouped under the title IUC which covers both local service taxes and taxes on secondary residences and other property.

　　Italy has pledged to contain its deficit¹⁷ within European Union limits of 3 percent of gross domestic product. The European Commission has warned that the budget may not prevent the public debt, already one of the heaviest in the euro zone at over 133 percent of GDP, from rising further.

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

5 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

6 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

9 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

10 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

12 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

13 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

14 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

15 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

16 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

17 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。