VOA慢速英语--德国社会民主党选举获胜将要组建新政府

After Election Gains, German's Social Democrats¹ Aim to Form a Government

Germany's center-left Social Democrats won the biggest share of the vote in the country's election Sunday. The party narrowly beat outgoing Chancellor² Angela Merkel's center-right Union bloc³. The closely fought race decides who succeeds the long-time leader of Europe's biggest economy.

Election officials said early Monday that a count of all 299 constituencies showed the Social Democrats received 25.9 percent of the vote, ahead of 24.1 percent for the Union bloc. No winning party in a German national election has ever taken such a small share of the vote.

Now, it is up to party leaders to decide who will follow Merkel after her 16 years in office.

The first-placed party usually leads German governments, but that is not always the case. The first-placed party can find itself in opposition⁴ if other parties form a coalition⁵ without it. That happened in 1976 and 1980, when then-Chancellor Helmut Schmidt stayed in office even though his party finished second.

There is no system for forming a new government, and no time limit. Parties hold talks to find out who and what they have in common, and a combination of parties can move on to official coalition talks.

Those negotiations⁶ usually create a coalition agreement that sets out the new government's plans. The plans need approval from congresses of the parties involved.

Once a coalition is ready, Germany's president nominates to the Bundestag a candidate for chancellor. To become chancellor, the candidate needs support from a majority of all members.

Sometimes the first two attempts to elect a chancellor with a majority fail. If this happens, the German constitution permits the president to appoint the candidate who wins the most votes in a third vote. The constitution also permits the president to dissolve the Bundestag and hold a new national election. That has never happened.

When Will Merkel Step Down?

Merkel and her outgoing government will remain in office as a caretaker until the Bundestag elects a new chancellor.

The outgoing coalition holds the record for the longest time taken to form a government. The Bundestag elected Merkel for her fourth term on March 14, 2018. That was nearly six months after Germany held its election on September 24, 2017.

What Parties are Involved?

Four parties can possibly form a new government. The result will be a coalition that has a majority of seats in parliament. Germany has no tradition of minority governments, which are usually seen as unstable⁷.

The Social Democrats are the biggest party. Even they, however, failed to get a majority. They won 206 of the 735 seats in parliament. The Social Democrats want to build a coalition with the environmentalist Greens and the business-friendly Free Democrats. The Union party could also form a government with those two parties.

The possible Social Democrats coalition is known in Germany as a "traffic light" coalition. That is because the three parties' colors are red, green and yellow. The possible Union-led coalition is known the "Jamaica" coalition because the parties' colors of black, green and yellow are the colors of the Jamaican flag.

It may not be easy to form either coalition, however. The Greens in the past have mostly allied⁸ themselves with the Social Democrats. The Free Democrats have usually allied with the Union.

The Free Democrats and Union are against raising taxes and want Germany to loosen its rules on debt. The Social Democrats and Greens want to raise taxes for top earners and increase the minimum wage.

There is one other possible resulting coalition. There could be a repeat of Merkel's outgoing "grand coalition" of the Union and Social Democrats, but this time under the Social Democrats' leadership. This group of politicians has run Germany for 12 years of Merkel's 16-year leadership. This year's voters, however, do not appear to want that result.

Words in This Story

dissolve - v. to officially end

unstable – adj. not held in a secure position

minimum wage - n. the legal minimum an employee can pay an employee

1 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》

2 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。

3 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

4 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。

5 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。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

7 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

8 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。