Germany’s elections
德國選舉
A new buzz for Germany
德國傳來新的嘈雜聲
Sep 28th 2009 | BERLIN
From Economist.com
Angela Merkel's CDU and the liberal FDP will rule Germany together
安吉拉•默克爾的基督教民主聯盟和自由主義者的自由民主黨將一起治理德國
Reuters 
THE election campaign was soporific but the results are startling. The “grand coalition” of Germany’s two biggest parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the left-leaning Social Democratic Party (SPD), has been voted out of office. Angela Merkel remains as chancellor but her new governing partner will be the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), which scored its best result ever on Sunday September 27th. The change of partners portends a sharp shift in the priorities and tone of Germany’s government.
競選活動令人昏昏欲睡，但結果卻令人吃驚。德國兩個最大的政黨基督教民主聯盟和左傾社會民主黨的“大聯合”被選下了臺。安吉拉•默克爾仍然是總理，但是她的新執政夥伴將是自由主義者的自由民主黨，該黨曾在九月27日星期日贏得了最好成績。合作者的變化預示著德國政府在優先事務和作風上的強烈轉變。
The new “black-yellow” government is a reincarnation of a coalition that governed Germany from 1983 to 1998 but with the FDP now in a considerably stronger position. The FDP is a pro-business party that champions reforms of social security, civil liberties, and above all lower and simpler taxes. It strongly opposes many of the policies that Ms Merkel adopted during the grand coalition to placate her SPD partners, such as minimum wages and give-aways to pensioners. The course of government over the next four years will largely depend on how tensions relating to such policies are resolved.
新的“黑黃”政府是聯合政府的再生，聯合政府從1983年到1998年治理德國，但現在與社會民主黨處於更穩固的狀態。社會民主黨是親商業的政黨，它支持社會保障、公民自由還有最重要的較低較簡單的稅收等方面的改革。它強烈反對默克爾女士在大聯合期間為安撫其基督教民主聯盟的夥伴而採取的很多政策，諸如最低工資制和向領取退休金者讓步。政府在今後四年里的方針在很大程度上將依賴於與這種政策有關的緊張局面如何解決。
Ms Merkel has already ruled out implementing some of the FDP’s more radical ideas, such as loosening regulations that protect workers from dismissal. Tax reform of some sort will have to occur. The FDP’s leader, Guido Westerwelle, says he will sign no coalition agreement without it. The CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), has been pushing for a 100-day package of tax-relief measures. But with a record federal budget deficit expected for next year and a commitment to reduce structural deficits nearly to zero by 2016, it is hard to see how the government can offer generous tax cuts. The outgoing finance minister, Peer Steinbrück, said they had “no chance”. His successor will face similar constraints but will find it hard to speak so bluntly.
默克爾女士已經取消了執行自由民主黨的某些更為激進的思想，比如放鬆保護工人免遭解雇的規章。某種稅務改革必將出現。自由民主黨的領導Guido Westerwelle說，沒有這一點他不會簽署聯合協議。基督教民主聯盟的巴伐利亞姊妹黨基督教社會聯盟在努力爭取一套百日減免稅收措施。但由於預計明年會有創紀錄的聯邦預算赤字，還有在2016年前減少結構赤字到接近於0的承諾，要看到政府會做出慷慨的減稅是困難的。即將離職的財政部長Peer Steinbrück說，他們沒有“選擇”。他的繼任者將發現除了很難如此直率地講話外，將面臨類似的限制。
The FDP and the CDU may clash over civil liberties. The FDP objected to many of the anti-terror policies backed by the conservative interior minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, most recently a proposal to expand the powers of the domestic intelligence agency. The two parties are closer on the vexed issue of nuclear power. They may well agree to allow nuclear plants to continue operating beyond 2022, the deadline set by an earlier SPD-Green government. Mr Westerwelle is expected to become foreign minister and vice-chancellor. He is better known for his views on taxes than on how to handle the relationship with Russia, what to do about Iran or how deeply Germany should be involved in Afghanistan, but he is unlikely to break sharply with current cautious policies. In any case Ms Merkel will still call the shots.
自由民主黨與基督教民主聯盟在公民自由權上可能會有衝突。自由民主黨反對被保守派內政部長Wolfgang Schäuble支持的很多反恐政策，最近的一項提議是擴大國內情報局的權利。他們很可能同意允許核電站繼續運行超過2022年，這是由早期社會民主黨-綠黨政府設定的最後期限。Westerwelle先生估計會成為外交部長和副總理。比起關於怎樣處理與俄羅斯的關係，怎樣對待伊朗，或德國應該捲入阿富汗多深，他的關於稅收的觀點更為人們所知曉，但是他不太可能急劇地結束當前的謹慎政策。無論如何默克爾女士還將發號施令。
The election brought about what may prove to be a lasting realignment in German politics. It is a blow for both the Volksparteien. The SPD with 23% of the vote scored its worst result in modern history and moves into opposition for the first time in 11 years. But the CDU’s performance was no triumph either. Despite Ms Merkel’s popularity, it won just 33.8% of the vote, its smallest share in 60 years. The CSU in Bavaria is accustomed to winning more than half the vote in the state, but in this election barely topped 40%. After four years of horse trading and compromise in the grand coalition, the identities of both the main parties had been blurred and many of their voters were disenchanted. The gainers were the three smaller opposition parties: the FDP, the Greens and the ex-communist Left Party. Voter turnout was a record low of 70.8%.
選舉可能會被證明導致了德國政治的一個持久的調整。它對兩個人民黨派來說都是個打擊。社會民主黨因為23%的選票取得了現代歷史上最差的成績，11年來首次成了反對黨。但是基督教民主聯盟的表現也不成功。儘管有默克爾女士的聲望，它僅僅贏得了33.8%的選票，是60年來最少的。巴伐利亞的基督教社會聯盟在這個州裡慣常是贏得多於一半的選票，但是在這次選舉中幾乎沒有超過40%。在大聯合中進行交易和妥協的四年後，這兩個主要政黨身份變得模糊，而且他們的很多選民不再抱有幻想。勝利者是三個較小的反對黨：自由民主黨、綠黨和前左翼共產黨。投票數是歷史記錄上最低的70.8%。
The results mark a return to more traditional politics with the two big parties in opposition to each other and a clear distinction between right and left. The SPD will now have to reinvent itself. That will mean resolving bitter internal disputes between economic reformers such as the party’s candidate, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the party’s powerful left wing. The SPD had ruled out governing with the Left Party after this election. The two parties will spend much of the next four years groping towards a relationship to make a left-leaning coalition possible in 2013.
就相互反對的兩大政黨而言，選舉結果標誌著向更傳統的政策的轉變，而且在左和右之間有明顯的差異。社會民主黨現在將不得不重新改造自己。這將意味著去解決在經濟改革家如該黨候選人Frank-Walter Steinmeier與該黨強大的左派之間的激烈的內部爭論。社會民主黨在這次選舉后結束了與左翼黨的聯合執政。這兩個黨在今後的四年裡將花很多時間摸索，以在2013年有可能形成一個左傾的聯盟關係。

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