Battlefield of Italy's elections expected at Senate

 　　ROME, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Contenders for Italy's power prepare to fight across the Senate battlefield to win the next government mandate¹ as well as the difficult task of pulling the country out of recession.

　　Five weeks before national vote, parties filed their lists of names for parliament seats on Monday, ending days of debate about candidacy criteria² after a series of scandals hit the political spectrum³ over the past months.

　　The last to show its cards by the deadline for submission⁴ was the People of Freedom (PdL) party of former premier⁵ Silvio Berlusconi after he was pushed hard for purging⁶ the lists of some senior members linked to criminal cases.

　　Surveys have pointed⁷ that former industry minister Pier⁸ Luigi Bersani, caretaker prime minister Mario Monti and Berlusconi, though the 76-year-old media tycoon⁹ has promised he would not be the premier again, will compete for victory.

　　Bersani has defined himself to be a pro-Europe leader who is ready to respect all the commitments made within the European Union while asking to concentrate more on growth and social justice. The leader said to be in favor of a personal tax for the wealthy and aims at supporting made-in-Italy products, investments and new technologies in order to re-launch the economy.

　　Berlusconi wants a reflection on the choices made by the "Germano-centric" EU which has created "stricter budgets and compromised growth." He has proposed to review the relationship between the euro and the European Central Bank (ECB) to make the single currency more solid, and counts on abolishing the property tax while increasing taxes on alcohol and cigarettes.

　　Monti, who was appointed at the helm of a technocratic¹⁰ government when Italy was on the verge¹¹ of falling victim to the European debt crisis in Nov. 2011, has pulled the eurozone's third largest economy back from the brink¹² of fiscal¹³ collapse¹⁴.

　　His pro-Europe program is committed to an "agenda" of growth-oriented policies for a more efficient public administration, opening the markets of goods and services, and increasing investments for research and innovation.

　　Two other figures, comedian¹⁵ Beppe Grillo and former anti-mafia magistrate¹⁶ Antonio Ingroia, will stand before the electorate¹⁷. Their respective formations, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and Civil Revolution, are both attractive for the part of electorate which was nauseated¹⁸ by widespread corruption¹⁹ in the political world.

　　However, analysts²⁰ agreed that the Senate will be at the real center of the election campaign. Differently from the lower chamber²¹ where allocation is national, the seats of the upper house are won on the basis of majorities in 17 regions, which means that obtaining more votes nationwide does not automatically mean winning a parliament majority.

　　Bersani has repeatedly said he was certain that his center-left coalition²² between the Democratic Party (PD) and Left, Ecology and Freedom (SEL) would defeat Berlusconi's center-right "across the country." In such a case, he would be able to form a government and becomes the prime minister.

　　Most recent opinion polls have showed in effect that the PD-SEL is indeed in front of the alliance between PdL and its resumed ally Northern League, followed by that of Monti's centrist forces.

　　"But if in some regions the center-left's victory is almost certain, in several others the outcome is undefined or presently in favor of the center-right," noted²³ Renato Mannheimer, one of Italy's leading electoral analysts.

　　Even assumed that the result would be in favor of Bersani's coalition in 13 regions, electoral competition in the uncertain ones, to a large extent those allocating²⁴ more seats, is fundamental.

　　The bottom line is that to deprive the center-left formation of an absolute majority within the Senate, it would be enough for Berlusconi to win Lombardy together with any of the other critical regions, said another renowned²⁵ election expert and political science professor at LUISS University in Rome, Roberto D'Alimonte.

　　According to political observers, should the PD-SEL coalition get a majority in the lower chamber but not in the Senate, it is likely that they will need the support of an extra force, and it is here that the Monti's group enters the game.

　　Bersani, despite his alliance with more radical²⁶ SEL, has kept open channels of communication with Monti, whose group includes the Union of the Center (UDC) and the Future and Freedom for Italy (FLI) moderate parties as well as a number of civil dignitaries outside the political sphere.

　　Local media said there have been meetings between the two leaders over the past few days with the view of some kind of "anti-Berlusconi agreement."

1 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

2 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

3 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

4 submission   

n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出

参考例句：

• The defeated general showed his submission by giving up his sword.战败将军缴剑表示投降。
• No enemy can frighten us into submission.任何敌人的恐吓都不能使我们屈服。

5 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

6 purging   

清洗； 清除； 净化； 洗炉

参考例句：

• You learned the dry-mouthed, fear-purged, purging ecstasy of battle. 你体会到战斗中那种使人嘴巴发干的，战胜了恐惧并排除其他杂念的狂喜。
• Purging databases, configuring, and making other exceptional requests might fall into this category. 比如清空数据库、配置，以及其他特别的请求等都属于这个类别。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

8 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

9 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。

10 technocratic   

adj.由技术专家官员组成的；受技术官僚影响的

参考例句：

• But there is method in Europe's technocratic madness, the official went on. 但欧洲的专家政治论者的愤怒是有原因的，这个位官员接着说道。 来自互联网
• Mr Juppé was floored in part by his contemptuous, technocratic attitude towards union leaders. 朱佩对工会领导蛮横与不屑，是导致他一败涂地的部分原因。 来自互联网

11 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

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。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

12 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

13 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

14 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。

15 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

16 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

17 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

18 nauseated   

adj.作呕的，厌恶的v.使恶心，作呕( nauseate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I was nauseated by the violence in the movie. 影片中的暴力场面让我感到恶心。
• But I have chewed it all well and I am not nauseated. 然而我把它全细细咀嚼后吃下去了，没有恶心作呕。 来自英汉文学 - 老人与海

19 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

20 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。

21 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

22 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。

23 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

24 allocating   

分配，分派( allocate的现在分词 )； 把…拨给

参考例句：

• Administrative practice generally follows the judicial model in allocating burdens of proof. 在分配举证责任方面，行政实践通常遵循司法模式。
• A cyclical multiplexing technique, allocating resources in fixed-time slices. 以固定的时间片分配资源的循环复用技术。

25 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

26 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。