Italian election outcome uncertain, euro at stake

 　　ROME, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Eurozone leaders and financial markets may hold their breath on Sunday and Monday when austerity-hit Italians flock to the polls for an election whose outcome could trigger a resurgence¹ of the eurozone debt crisis.

　　Final opinion polls indicated that center-left Democratic Party leader Pier² Luigi Bersani would secure an overall majority in the lower house, but may fall short of a few seats in the Senate, thus the most likely appears to be a coalition³ government with the outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti's centrist party.

　　The race is far from a foregone conclusion, with media mogul and ex-premier⁴ Silvio Berlusconi trailing in polls for the past month and comedian-turned-politician playing the wild card in the third place ahead of Monti.

　　But the Bersani-Monti alliance could be in the best interests of Italy as well as the wider Eurozone, observers have said.

　　Josef Janning, an EU expert with the Berlin-based thinktank German Council on Foreign Relations, said that the market would become nervous and Italy's economic recession would deepen if there was no new coalition with strong backing for the government after the election.

　　"Italy is too big an economy to drift off and discredit⁵ the Eurozone. The EU would clearly prefer a government committed to the present reforms and close cooperation with European partners," Janning told Xinhua.

　　Back in the depths of Eurozone debt crisis in 2011, the country was on the brink⁶ of bankruptcy⁷, which forced the then premier Berlusconi out of office and brought in Monti's technocrat⁸ government.

　　For over a year, Monti was fighting tooth and nail to restore Italy's credibility with austerity measures and labor⁹ market reforms, until Berlusconi's party withdrew its support last December, prompting the dissolution of the parliament and the early election.

　　With a distant fourth place in the polls, Monti has little chance to win the election, but his role as a potential ally of Bersani has its own values, especially if Bersani fails to win the Senate.

　　As the lower house, or the 630-strong "Chamber¹⁰ of Deputies," and the 315-member Senate have equal law-making powers, Italy's prime minister always needs the support of both houses to govern.

　　A supporter of Monti's reforms in the parliament, Bersani has pledged to continue with the former's discipline policy. But he intends to add his own priorities of employment and fairness to tackle pressing issues in the country.

　　"A Bersani-led government would seek to cushion the reforms with emphasis on social issues. Let's hope its economy may pick up at some point," Janning added.

　　As Europe's most sluggish¹¹ large economy for the past two decades, Italy saw its economy contracted by 2.2 percent in 2012 along with a record high unemployment rate, not to mention public complaints about Monti's painful therapy of spending cuts and tax increases.

　　But still, Monti is well respected and trusted in Brussels, and most EU countries want him to be involved in the new government rather than Berlusconi, according to Fabian Zuleeg, chief economist¹² at the Brussels-based think tank European Policy Center.

　　"Berlusconi still thinks in terms of electoral gifts for his supporters which Italy cannot afford, and the market would react badly to a Berlusconi victory," Zuleeg said.

　　"Monti is a much more constructive¹³ partner, championing structural¹⁴ reforms," he added.

　　What adds to the anxiety is that nearly 30 percent of voters still remain undecided or may abstain¹⁵, making the final outcome even harder to predict.

　　Even with the best scenario¹⁶ of a coalition government led by Bersani, the outcome would, at best, have a positive impact only in the medium term if the right policies were pursued, according to Zuleeg.

　　Echoing Zuleeg's view that the election would bring little change in short time, Janning also said Italy's economic recession could continue.

　　"For decades, depreciation¹⁷ and deficit¹⁸ spending have been the recipe for Italian policy makers¹⁹, and they still need to adjust to an entirely²⁰ new tool box for crisis management," he said.

1 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

6 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。

7 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

8 technocrat   

n.技术人员，技术官僚

参考例句：

• He is a distant technocrat who is unable to connect with ordinary voters.作为一个冷淡的技术官僚，他不能做到与普通选民息息相通。
• Jack Lew,the new budget director,is the quintessential technocrat.新预算主管杰克·卢就是一个典型的技术官僚。

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 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。

11 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

12 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

13 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

14 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

15 abstain   

v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免

参考例句：

• His doctor ordered him to abstain from beer and wine.他的医生嘱咐他戒酒。
• Three Conservative MPs abstained in the vote.三位保守党下院议员投了弃权票。

16 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

17 depreciation   

n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低

参考例句：

• She can't bear the depreciation of the enemy.她受不了敌人的蹂躏。
• They wrote off 500 for depreciation of machinery.他们注销了500镑作为机器折旧费。

18 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。

19 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。