德国政党推出的新联合内阁阵容

 　　德国政党推出的新联合内阁阵容

        BERLIN, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chancellor¹ Angela Merkel's conservatives and their coalition² partner, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), unveiled their picks for the new cabinet on Sunday, which will be sworn into office with Merkel serving the post of chancellor in a third term.

　　Merkel confirmed widely circulated media reports that she named Ursula von der Leyen to be the country's first female defence minister, while incumbent³ Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere will head the Interior Ministry⁴.

　　CDU veteran Wolfgang Schaeuble, who joined hands with the chancellor in Germany's efforts to fight the eurozone debt crisis, will remain as finance minister.

　　Merkel's other cabinet picks for her CDU party include Hermann Groehe who will serve as Health Minister, Johanna Wanka who will stay as Education Minister, and Peter Altmaier as her chief of staff.

　　Earlier on Sunday, CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian⁵ Social Union (CSU), also announced its cabinet members of a grand coalition under Chancellor Merkel.

　　Negotiators of earlier coalition talks had said the CDU and the SPD will get six ministerial posts each, and the CSU will take three.

　　The three CSU posts of agriculture, transport as well as economic cooperation and development will be taken by Hans-Peter Friedrich, Alexander Dobrindt, Gerd Mueller respectively.

　　Earlier in the day, the center-left SPD party also briefed media about its cabinet members.

　　The SPD will take the six posts of economy and energy, foreign affairs, labor⁶, environment, justice and families, party leader Sigmar Gabriel said at a press conference in Berlin.

　　Gabriel will be the minister of a new Economy and Energy Ministry and take responsibility for Germany's ambitious plan of energy transformation⁷ from nuclear power to green energy.

　　Frank-Walter Steinmeier is back at the foreign ministry. He served in that post from 2005-2009 under Merkel.

　　The SDP will also take the labor, environment, justice, families portfolios⁸, said Gabriel. Andrea Nahles, Barbara Hendricks, Heiko Maas and Manuela Schwesig will take responsibilities for the posts respectively.

　　Party leaders will formally sign the coalition agreement on Monday. Merkel will be reelected chancellor in a vote in the lower house of parliament on Tuesday and the new coalition will then be sworn into office to rule Europe's biggest economy for the next four years.

　　The establishment of the coalition government put an end to more than two months of political limbo⁹ after the Sept. 22 elections when Merkel's CDU and CSU bloc¹⁰ proved to be the biggest winner with 41.5 percent of votes, while the SPD took 25.7 percent.

　　Without a majority of the parliament seats, the CDU/CSU bloc had to form a coalition with the center-left SPD as in Merkel's 2005-2009 first term. Such a grand coalition is supported by most Germans, as a poll for public broadcaster ZDF published Friday showed that 49 percent of Germans welcome a grand coalition while 33 percent opposed it.

　　The coalition government was able to become a reality on Friday as a majority of the SPD members backed the proposed coalition deal in a binding¹¹ vote within the party.

　　However, some SPD members harbor skepticism on becoming Merkel's junior partner again. The party suffered a electoral defeat in 2009 after serving as Merkel's junior coalition party in her first term.

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 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。

3 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 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。

6 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。

7 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

8 portfolios   

n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 )；（保险）业务量；（公司或机构提供的）系列产品；纸夹

参考例句：

• Price risk arises in non-trading portfolios, as well as in trading portfolios. 价格风险中出现的非贸易投资，以及在贸易投资组合。 来自互联网
• How do we fatten our portfolios and stay financially healthy? 我们怎样育肥我们的投资结构和维持财政健康呢？ 来自互联网

9 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

10 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。

11 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。