Greece Appoints Caretaker PM, Sets Date for New Elections

 　　Greece has sworn in a senior judge as the country's new caretaker prime minister.

　　Council of State head Panagiotis Pikrammenos was appointed Wednesday after major political parties failed to form a coalition¹ government following several attempts to broker² a deal.

　　The 67-year-old Mr. Pikrammenos will be tasked with organizing the country's repeat elections scheduled for June 17.

　　Analysts³ say the new elections, like those held earlier this month, are also likely to produce a hung parliament with no party securing enough votes to form a government.  But a radical⁴ left coalition led by Alexis Tsipras, the Syriza party leader who fiercely opposes austerity measures, has gained enough support to have a major influence.

　　This could lead Greece on a collision course with the European Union, whose leaders have said the country will not get any more loans unless it adheres to the tough debt-reducing plan.

　　The Greek political impasse⁵ has rattled⁶ European markets and threatens to undermine the eurozone. The issue figured high in the first official talks Tuesday between France's new president, Francois Hollande, and German Chancellor⁷ Angela Merkel.  During the meeting in Berlin, the two leaders said they support Greece staying in the currency union.

　　"We have to respect the fact that there are new elections in Greece.  So I speak for myself and have made it clear that we want Greece to stay in the eurozone and want its citizens to vote for this.  Part of doing this is that the agreements of the memorandum⁸ [agreement with creditors] must be kept," Merkel said.

　　On Wednesday, the European Union Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, said that while the EU wants Greece to stay in the eurozone, there is no way to change the commitments the previous Greek government made for the austerity plan.  As a result, he said Greek voters will have to decide whether to stay in the 17-nation currency union.

　　"This being said, the ultimate resolve to stay in the euro area must come from Greece itself.  We are fully⁹ aware that the present situation is asking a lot of the Greek people and many sacrifices.  But this is the result of policies made in the past," Barroso said.

　　The political stalemate in Greece has led to rising concerns among eurozone financial ministers that Athens will not uphold the austerity commitments it made as it secured the country's second financial bailout in the last two years.

　　The economic measures include deep spending cuts, tax hikes, pension cuts and eliminating thousands of government jobs.  Greeks have taken to the streets in sometimes violent protests against the bailout requirements.

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 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

5 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

6 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

7 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。

8 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。