双语新闻：意大利总理蒙蒂的辞职
Italian politics Mario Monti's resignationHowever understandable his decision, Mario Monti’s announcement of his intention to resign as prime minister will inflict serious, short-term damage. It means his government will come to an end in a premature, probably disorderly and possibly chaotic fashion.
马里奥·蒙蒂（Mario Monti）的决定无可厚非，但无论如何，他打算辞去总理职务的声明仍将造成严重的短期伤害。这意味着他的政府将在一种不成熟，也许可以说是无序，甚至可能是混乱的形态下告终。
Mr Monti told Giorgio Napolitano, the president, on December 8th that he would step down as soon as the 2013 budget was passed. But it looks as if much else his government had been working on in recent months will now not be approved (or, in the case of measures introduced by decree, confirmed) in parliament. Legislation doomed or in jeopardy includes bills on competition, taxation and the simplification of bureaucracy. Another would have put into effect the new constitutional requirement for a balanced budget. Perhaps most importantly, a package of measures to stimulate economic growth is vulnerable – and particularly so because its ministerial sponsor Corrado Passera, the economic development minister, dared to criticise Silvio Berlusconi’s decision to run for prime minister and has become a hate figure for Mr Berlusconi’s followers.
12月8日，蒙蒂告知总统乔治·纳波利塔诺（Giorgio Napolitano），称2013年预算案一通过，他就会辞职。但如同他的政府在最近几个月来致力处理的许多其他事务那样，该预算案看来现在将不会被议会批准（即就依靠颁布法令来推行的政策措施而言，不会被确认）。关于竞争，税收及精简官僚机构等提案的立法注定会失败，或者会处于危险之中。而另一项关于平衡预算写入宪法的提案将会生效。或许最重要的是，刺激经济增长的一揽子措施是脆弱的——尤其是因为它的部长级支持者经济发展部部长科拉多·帕塞拉（Corrado Passera）敢于批评贝卢斯科尼竞选总理的决定，并已成为贝卢斯科尼追随者的憎恨对象 。
Mr Monti’s unexpected move has also dispelled what faint hopes remained of a new electoral law. So Italians will again vote under the same, deplorable arrangements that rob them of meaningful local representation. (Lawmakers are being chosen from closed lists for multi-seat constituencies.)
蒙蒂的意外举动令新选举法的剩余微弱希望也终告破灭。因而意大利人将再次以相同的，令人诟病的机制进行投票，这使他们丧失了意义重大的地方代表。（对于多席位选区而言，议员们将会从封闭性名单中选出。)
Compounding the atmosphere of uncertainty, it is highly likely Mr Napolitano will himself resign soon. His mandate does not expire until May, but he has said on more than one occasion that it would not be right for him to appoint the next prime minister and then leave his successor to deal with the consequences.
考虑到这种不确定的气氛，纳波利塔诺本人也极有可能将很快辞职。他的任期要到明年5月才结束，但是他在不止一个场合中表示过，对他而言，任命下一任总理然后让他的继任者来应付种种后果是不对的 。
The latest upheaval in Italy’s seldom-tranquil political landscape does not necessarily mean that Mr Berlusconi will now coming storming back into power with a mandate to slash taxes and boost spending. His People of Freedom (PdL) movement is divided, demoralised and languishing in the polls at around 15%. The same polls indicate that even an alliance with the Northern League, which now becomes possible, and others, would win less than a 25% share of the vote. It seems unlikely that such an alliance could make up the ground needed to secure an outright victory. But in an already confused situation in which a party led by a comedian, Beppe Grillo, is reckoned to have the second-biggest following of any political movement, Mr Berlusconi and his followers and allies could put themselves in a position to determine events after the general election.
在意大利少有的平静政治态势下，这起最新的剧震并不一定意味着贝卢斯科尼现在将携大幅减税和增加支出的授权强势回归政坛。他的人民自由党（People of Freedom）陷于分裂，士气低落并日渐衰落，其民调支持率仅为15%左右。而同样的民调显示，即使是与北方联盟（Northern League）结盟——这现已成为可能——以及与其他政党组成联盟，它也只能获得低于25%的选票。这样的一个联盟能够按其所需地获得一场彻底的胜利似乎是不可能的。但在已然一片混乱的局势中——其中由喜剧演员毕普·格里罗领导的政党被认为是历来第二大政治运动——贝卢斯科尼和他的追随者及盟友会可能在大选之后自行占据一个举足轻重的关键位置。
Mr Berlusconi had been looking forward to almost three months in which the PdL movement would keep alive the current, non-party government in parliament with a policy of abstention rather than opposition. During that time, he would have been able to plot his electoral campaign, reorganise his divided followers and, at the same time, comprehensively denigrate the austerity and other policies of the government while presenting himself as the man to give the electorate a less painful way forward. But because of Mr Monti’s decision at the weekend, Mr Berlusconi is now in a headlong rush to a snap election, possibly as early as February 17th, and with the Christmas, New Year and Epiphany holidays in between.
贝卢斯科尼一直期望人民自由党在议会采取弃权而不是反对的策略能维持当前的无党派政府差不多三个月时间。在这段时间里，他将能够策划他的选战，重新组织陷于分裂的追随者，同时全面攻诘政府的紧缩及其他政策，从而彰显自己是给予选民一条更少痛苦前进道路的人选。然而由于蒙蒂在周末的决定，贝卢斯科尼现在要仓促应对一个提前选举，大选可能会提早在2月17日——即圣诞节，元旦和主显节假期之间——举行。
The prime minister has also given himself the leeway in which to stand in the election as the paladin of a new, more sober, and implicitly more responsible, centre-right. If he were to do so, he could well draw to his camp some of the media tycoon’s more disgruntled followers, notably conservative Catholics and some of the former neo-fascists whom Mr Berlusconi was, until a few days ago, plotting to squeeze out of the PdL. But a Monti candidature would also create an opportunity for Mr Berlusconi to depict all of his adversaries, and not just Mr Monti, as the supporters of what his followers already call “the government of taxes”.
总理也给自己保留了回旋的余地，即他可能会作为一个新的，更冷静的，以及无疑更可靠的中右翼圣骑士参加选举。如果他这样做，他很可能将这位媒体大亨一些更加不满的追随者吸引到他的阵营中来，尤其是保守派天主教徒以及贝卢斯科尼数天前还打算将其排挤出自由人民党的一些前法西斯主义者。但是蒙蒂的参选也将为贝卢斯科尼创造一个机会，使他能将所有的敌人——而不仅仅是蒙蒂——描绘成其追随者口中“税收政府”的支持者。
Though opinion polls show Mr Monti is still respected, they also show widespread dissatisfaction with the effect of his policies on their disposable incomes and a dislike, or even loathing, of his government. In these circumstances, a campaign in which Mr Berlusconi offered tax cuts, supposedly to dynamise the economy, could have great appeal.
尽管民调显示蒙蒂仍然受到尊重，但它们也显示，受访者普遍不满其政策给他们的可支配收入带来的影响，以及不喜欢，甚至是厌恶他的政府。在这种情况下，贝卢斯科尼提出的据称能活跃经济的减税竞选策略可能会有很大的吸引力。
The coming election campaign will be, above all, a test of the maturity and realism of Italian voters. One could feel more confident if they had not on three occasions chosen Mr Berlusconi as their leader.
最重要的是，即将到来的选举将是对意大利选民成熟度和现实性的一个考验。而如果他们没有三次选贝卢斯科尼为他们领袖的话，人们可能会感到更自信一些。
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