美国国家公共电台 NPR--French President Macron faces an uphill battle to a second term

French President Macron faces an uphill battle to a second term

Transcript¹

France's ruling center-right coalition² lost its absolute majority in parliamentary elections Sunday, presenting President Emmanuel Macron with the likelihood of a difficult second term in office.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A bit of recent American history helps to show the meaning of elections in France. President Barack Obama got a lot of legislation through Congress after his election. And then his party lost the House, and he achieved less. President Donald Trump³ got a big tax cut through Congress. And then his party lost the House, and he achieved less. French President Emmanuel Macron just won reelection. But in legislative⁴ elections on a separate day, his party lost its majority in the parliament. Reporter Rebecca Rosman is in Paris. Welcome.

REBECCA ROSMAN, BYLINE⁵: Hi. Good morning.

INSKEEP: How bad is the news from Macron's party?

ROSMAN: It's pretty bad. I mean, if you look at the numbers at first glance, his party, his coalition did get more seats than any other party. But what he really needed was an absolute majority of seats to keep this sweeping⁶ power that he had during his first term in office. And he did not get that. He actually lost over a third of his seats. And without this majority, he's going to have a lot of trouble pushing through key reforms, most notably⁷ reforming the pension system. He really wants to focus on raising the retirement⁸ age from 62 to 65, overhauling⁹ the current system. But he's going to have a lot of trouble doing that now. Some suggest he may try and form a coalition with the center right to make up for those lost seats.

INSKEEP: Well, who gained as Macron's party lost?

ROSMAN: I would say that there were two big winners here. So the first is this newly formed left-wing coalition. They are called Nupes. They got the second-highest number of votes, meaning they are now the biggest opposition¹⁰ against Macron. So they are led by the far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon. He came in third place in April's presidential elections. And they ran a really solid campaign based on domestic concerns, including raising the minimum wage to 1,500 euros a month, lowering retirement from 62 to 60 and freezing energy prices. And as we all know, inflation is a big issue right now, not just in France, but all over the world. And the second big winner is Marine¹¹ Le Pen's far-right National Rally party. So as you may recall, Le Pen faced Macron in April's presidential elections, in which she did pretty well. This time around, in the legislative elections, she got 89 seats, which is by far the most seats her party has ever won. So let's listen to what she had to say about that last night.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARINE LE PEN: (Non-English language spoken).

ROSMAN: So she's saying that her party achieved its goals, the main one being taking away Macron's majority, thus this sweeping power of his, which she says he would have used and abused. And she also says, France is finally a democracy again.

INSKEEP: Well, I'm trying to figure out what these results mean, Rebecca, because, of course, Americans pay attention to France for many reasons, one of them being it's an important U.S. ally. It's deeply involved in the conflict against Ukraine, just to give one example. We've been watching the rise of the far right in France from over here. What does it mean that both the left and the right gained against Macron, who seems to be in the center?

ROSMAN: Well, I would say it's unclear right now, you know? This is an unprecedented¹² situation. A president hasn't run without a majority in 20 years in France. And some analysts¹³ say that he will continue to lean slightly to the right because of, like I mentioned earlier, this coalition he may form with the center right - that is if they're willing to do so. But the left opposition is stronger than ever. And that can't be ignored either, along with, as you mentioned, the far right. They are the strongest single party in parliament now. In terms of international implications, I think what this means is Macron may have to focus on domestic issues and less on foreign policy than he has, which he may not like because he's been a big, key negotiating figure with Ukraine and Russia.

INSKEEP: Reporter Rebecca Rosman is in Paris. Thanks.

ROSMAN: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

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 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

7 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

8 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

9 overhauling   

n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• I had no chance of overhauling him. 我没有赶上他的可能。 来自辞典例句
• Some sites need little alterations but some need total overhauling. 有些网站需要做出细微修改，而有些网站就需要整体改版。 来自互联网

10 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。

11 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

12 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

13 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。