经济学人:德国政坛

 Leaders 社论

Germany 德国

Angela's exit 安格拉退出

The Merkel era has come to an end 默克尔时代已到尽头

She is still Germany's chancellor¹. But, after 13 sober and admirable years at the top, Angela Merkel's authority has melted away. 默克尔虽然如今仍是德国总理，但经过了13年冷静而又令人钦佩的总理生涯，其威信正在下降。

On October 29th, following an astonishing drubbing handed out to her Christian² Democratic Union (CDU) in the prosperous state of Hesse, she announced that she will step down as leader of the party in December. 10月29日，在繁荣的黑森州，德国基督教民主联盟（以下简称“基民盟”）于地区议会选举遭遇惊人惨败后，默克尔宣布将不会在今年12月初（举行的党内换届选举上）寻求连任党主席。

In theory, she could remain as chancellor until 2021. 理论上，她可保留总理职位至2021年。

But, as she herself remarked about her predecessor³, Gerhard Schroder, who tried to buy himself time with a similar manoeuvre⁴ back in 2004, the two jobs belong together. 但正如默克尔评论施罗德时所言：这两个职位应归一人。2004年，上任总理格哈德·施罗德曾试图用同样的策略为自己争取些时间。

Her position now is even worse than his was then. 默克尔的处境甚至比施罗德当时更糟。

Mrs Merkel's writ⁵ does not run in her own party, which recently ousted⁶ a close ally from his position as parliamentary leader in the Bundestag. 默克尔的政令在自己的政党中不起作用，最近，基民盟将一位亲密盟友从联邦议院议长的位置上赶下。

Worse, her coalition⁷ with the Social Democrats⁸ (SPD), who were also walloped in Hesse, is at risk of collapse⁹. 雪上加霜，默克尔与社会民主党的联合也在黑森州遭受重创，现在正处于分崩离析的危险之中。

Even if the SPD do not walk out in the coming days, the two parties now so thoroughly¹⁰ dislike each other that she will struggle to govern. 即使社民党在未来的日子里不退出，两党现在已经非常不喜欢对方，默克尔将很难治理国家。

Mr Schroder lasted only 15 months after leaving his party job before being forced to call an early election, which he lost. Mrs Merkel should not expect to last any longer. 上任总理施罗德在辞去党内职务后仅坚持了15个月，就被迫提前举行大选，但最终以失败告终。默克尔女士不应该这种境况持续太久。

The timing¹¹ could hardly be worse. 时机再糟糕不过了。

The EU is being buffeted¹² by Brexit and the threat of an Italian-inspired euro crisis. 欧盟正受到英国脱欧和意大利引发的欧元危机威胁的打击。

President Donald Trump¹³ is forcing Europe to rethink its security. 美国总统唐纳德·特朗普正迫使欧洲重新考虑安全问题。

When leadership is required, neither the EU nor the world should welcome a prolonged period of Teutonic paralysis¹⁴. 当需要领导时，无论是欧盟还是世界都不应希望日耳曼人长期陷于瘫痪。

Quite possibly, the pace will be forced by the SPD's departure from the coalition. 社民党退出联盟政府很有可能将迫使其加快步伐。

Mrs Merkel also said this week that she will not fight another election and she is unlikely to stay on as head of a new coalition or a minority government. 默克尔本周还表示，她不会再参加另一场选举，她不太可能继续担任新联合政府或少数派政府的领导人。

As the lamest¹⁵ of ducks, she will struggle to achieve anything. 好似跛足鸭子，默克尔举步维艰。

 

1 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

4 manoeuvre   

n.策略，调动；v.用策略，调动

参考例句：

• Her withdrawal from the contest was a tactical manoeuvre.她退出比赛是一个战术策略。
• The clutter of ships had little room to manoeuvre.船只橫七竖八地挤在一起，几乎没有多少移动的空间。

5 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

6 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

7 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。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

11 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

12 buffeted   

反复敲打( buffet的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续猛击； 打来打去； 推来搡去

参考例句：

• to be buffeted by the wind 被风吹得左右摇摆
• We were buffeted by the wind and the rain. 我们遭到风雨的袭击。

13 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

14 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

15 lamest   

瘸的( lame的最高级 )； 站不住脚的； 差劲的； 蹩脚的

参考例句：

• You can check out some of the lamest excuses ever used to dump. 你可以挑着看看那些曾被用来甩人的最蹩脚理由。