经济学人313:德国左派的胜利 图林根州的十一月革命

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　　德国左派的胜利

　　Thuringia's November revolution

　　图林根州的十一月革命

　　It may become the first state run by the heirs of East Germany's communists

　　图林根州也许会成为第一个由东德共产党继承者执政的联邦州

　　Ramelow on the high road to power

　　拉梅罗可谓平步青云

　　NEXT weekend Germany celebrates the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Yet a few days before that, Die Linke (The Left), the party that descends² from the communists who ran the old East Germany, may take charge of one of reunified Germany's 16 states (Thuringia) for the first time.

　　下个周末，德国将庆祝柏林墙倒塌25周年。然而在几天前，源于前东德共产党的德国左翼党可能第一次执政图林根州—德国十六州之一。

　　The mainstream³ parties treat The Left as pariahs⁴ in the federal Bundestag. The party jeers⁵ from the backbenches and fights internal vendettas⁶. It hates capitalism⁷ and wants to scrap⁸ NATO. In debates over Ukraine many Leftists have blamed America more than Russia's Vladimir Putin. Their parliamentary leader, Gregor Gysi, refuses to call the East German regime an “unjust state”.

　　左党一直被主流政党视为德国联邦议院的贱民，因为其后座议员的地位以及党内斗争而受到其他政党的嘲笑。他们厌恶资本主义并打算让北约解体。在乌克兰之争中， 许多左派人士倾向于指责美国而不是俄罗斯。左党的议会领袖Gregor Gysi拒绝称东德政权是一个“不公正的国家”。

　　德国左派的胜利.jpg

　　In state and local governments in eastern Germany, however, The Left has become a home for many Ossis (Easterners), who tend to be apolitical and feel vaguely⁹ frustrated¹⁰. They vote Left partly for reasons of “Ostalgie”. In Brandenburg The Left governs boringly as junior partner in a “red-red” coalition¹¹ with the Social Democrats¹² (SPD). But Thuringia presents a new opportunity. In its election in September the Christian¹³ Democrats (CDU), the party of Chancellor¹⁴ Angela Merkel, came first, with 33%. But The Left came a strong second with 28%. It could now eke¹ out a tiny majority if it combined with the other two left-leaning parties: the SPD and the Greens.

　　但是在东德的州政府和地方政府中，左党变成了Ossis (东德人)的大本营，东德人似乎不关心政治，茫然失落。他们以“东德情结”为由给左党投票。在勃兰登堡，左党以“红红”联盟中社会民主党人（SPD）的新合伙人身份进行沉闷无趣的统治管理。但是图林根提供了一个新的机遇。在9月份的选举中，以德国总理安吉拉·默克尔为领袖的基民盟(CDU)，以33%的选票位列第一。左党来势汹汹，以28%的支持率暂居第二。如果左党可以和其他两个左倾政党：社民党和绿党联合的话，就能以微小的优势成为多数党。

　　To many on Germany's centre-left such a “red-red-green” alliance is the holy grail at the federal level to replace governments led by Mrs Merkel. In Thuringia (as in the rest of Germany) the CDU rules in coalition with the SPD. The SPD has paid dearly there, winning a meagre 12% of the vote in September. So the state's Social Democrats want to try joining with The Left and the Greens instead. Thuringia's 4,300 SPD members are expected to say yes to the idea on November 4th. The Left could lead its first-ever state government by December.

　　对于那些支持中左派“红红绿”联盟的人来说，以默克尔为首的政府下台真是一件在联邦层次大快人心的事情。图林根州（德国其他州也一样）由基民盟和社民党联合执政。社民党在图林根州付出了高昂的代价，却仅仅在9月的选举中获得了微薄的12%的选票。所以该州的社民党转而联合左党和绿党。图林根州中4300社民党人想在11月4号对这个想法表示支持。如果这样，左党可能在12月份首次执政联邦州。

　　Its premier¹⁵ would be Bodo Ramelow. A western transplant in Thuringia, he personally brings no baggage from East German times. And although he was a firebrand unionist once, he counts as a moderate by The Left's standards. Thuringians fret¹⁶ less about him than about the stability of a government that would have only a one-seat majority.

　　左党的领袖将会是拉梅罗。受图林根西德文化的影响，拉梅罗个人行事并不受前东德色彩的影响。尽管他曾经是极具煽动性的工会主义者，但按左党标准看来却是一个温和派。相比于拉梅罗，图林根州人更担心一席多数政府的稳定问题。

　　The overarching question is whether a red-red-green government in Thuringia could foreshadow a similar experiment in the Bundestag (albeit with an SPD chancellor). It would be much harder to do in national politics, where foreign and security policy cleaves¹⁷ a wide gulf¹⁸ between the two red parties. And yet the SPD is in a terrible bind¹⁹. Increasingly, it merely holds the stirrups for others to mount: Mrs Merkel in Berlin, now Mr Ramelow in Erfurt. The SPD's thirst for national power may yet force it to turn to The Left in the Bundestag.

　　现在首要的问题在于出现在图林根的红红绿政府是否同样会出现在联邦议会中（尽管现在由社民党执政）。这种情况在国家政治中更难实现，因为这两个红色政党在外交和安全政策上存在巨大的鸿沟。但社民党处于可怕的窘境中。它逐渐让其他政党顺势上位：柏林的基民盟，现在埃尔福特的左党。社民党党对国家权力的极度渴望可能会迫使他转向联邦议院的左党。

　　1.want to 想去；想要

　　例句:When life gets hard and you want to give up, remember that life is full of ups and downs, and without the downs, the ups would mean nothing.

　　当生活很艰难，你想要放弃的时候，请记住，生活充满了起起落落，如果没有低谷，那站在高处也失去了意义。

　　2.refuse to 不肯；拒绝

　　例句:I refuse to act that way when my kids fight.

　　我的孩子们打起架来时，我不会那样做。

　　3.tend to 倾向于；趋向

　　例句:The wind is tending to the south.

　　风势转为南。

　　4.combine with 与结合；使结合

　　例句:Combine the flour with 3 tablespoons water to make a paste.

　　往面粉里加3大勺水揉成面团。

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