2006年VOA标准英语-Berlusconi Resigns as Italian PM

By Sabina Castelfranco
Rome
02 May 2006

Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, right, meets Premier¹ Silvio Berlusconi at the Quirinale Palace, in Rome, May 2, 2006   
  
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has resigned, paving the way for a center-left government led by Romano Prodi. His resignation came more than three weeks after Italy's general elections.

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For weeks, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi refused to concede defeat in Italy's general elections. His challenger, Romano Prodi, who heads a center-left coalition², won by a narrow margin³. Berlusconi finally went to the presidential palace to meet with the Italian head of state.

A presidential spokesman read a statement that said that Berlusconi had resigned and President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi has asked him to remain temporarily as caretaker prime minister.

Earlier, Berlusconi has presided over a short cabinet meeting in which he announced his decision to resign. Berlusconi was elected leader of the center-right coalition in 2001 and has been the longest serving prime minister in Italy since World War Two.

After learning of Berlusconi's resignation, Prodi - the winner of the elections - said democracy goes on, sometimes slowly, but it goes on. He expressed the hope that the political vacuum would not last long.

Berlusconi has pledged to lead a fierce opposition⁴.

Meanwhile, Prodi has been working on his line-up for Italy's new government. It is up to the Italian president to give Prodi the mandate⁵, but it remains⁶ unclear whether a new president will need to be elected first, because Ciampi's term expires later this month.

Ciampi had indicated he wanted his successor to give the new prime minister his mandate. But there has been widespread speculation⁷ that Ciampi might change his mind to put an end to the political delay.

Ciampi has stressed the need for Italy to quickly revive the country's zero-growth economy. He has also said political tensions must ease if the nation is to work together on that goal.

1 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。

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 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

4 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。

5 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。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。