PBS高端访谈:希腊总理的辞职对提前大选有什么样的影响?
时间:2019-02-25 作者:英语课 分类:PBS访谈社会系列
英语课
JUDY WOODRUFF: There was another dramatic chapter in the Greek economic crisis this evening, as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced to his nation that he's resigning.
ALEXIS TSIPRAS, Greek Prime Minister (through translator): My fellow Greeks, I leave it up to your judgment 1, and my conscience is clear. I am proud of the battle my government and I have fought. We fought to stay true to our promises. We negotiated hard and insistently 2 for a very long time. We held out against pressures and blackmail 3. It's true we reached our limit, but we made the Greek issue into an international issue.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Joining us now with more on the prime minister's announcement is journalist John Psaropoulos.
So, John, what does this mean for the nation of Greece?
JOHN PSAROPOULOS, Blogger, THENEWATHENIAN.com: It means that this party, the left-wing Syriza Party, will probably be reelected with a broadened majority in about a month's time, and will see that as a vindication 4 of the effort that it made last month to negotiate an austerity-free bailout loan with its European creditors 5, something that clearly it didn't succeed in doing.
And because that had been a key election promise back in January, it says that it now needs a renewed mandate 6. This, though, has to do with two other things. First, it has to clear its own house. It's got to get rid of its far-left backbenchers, who are now a very powerful internal opposition 7 and have drawn 8 a third of Syriza's members of Parliament away from the prime minister.
And the second thing that is going on here is that Syriza sees an opportunity to win single-party government, in other words, to be able to rule without a coalition 9 partner and to achieve broadened authority.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, are you saying Tsipras thinks he's stronger as a result of what's happened lately?
JOHN PSAROPOULOS: Well, counterintuitively, yes, the polls seem to indicate that he would come out stronger as a result of seven months at the helm, during which the economy transitioned from one that had a positive outlook of 3 percent growth this year to renewed recession from — and also after a period during which he essentially 10 didn't succeed in sticking to his campaign promises.
But Tsipras has played the election rule book devastatingly 11 well. He triggered an early election back in 2012, which saw his party go from 16 percent of the popular vote to 26, and he did it again in January this year, when he refused to join the conservative — well, the people who were then the ruling country, the ruling Conservatives, in a bipartisan consensus 12 to elect a new president of the republic.
And that saw him come to power 36 percent. So he's leapt forward by 20 percentage points in — through the tactic 13 of triggering early elections. I think Syriza believes that it can achieve this result again a third time.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, John Psaropoulos, what happens to the austerity measures that were passed? They had a referendum just a matter of weeks ago. They were approved by the Greek Parliament, they were passed by the European Union. Where does all that stand?
JOHN PSAROPOULOS: Well, all of that has been broadcast here in the local media. It has been run in the local press.
But everyone I have spoken to hasn't, except a hazy 14 idea, of what it really involves for them. They do know that Syriza suffered a serious defeat in Brussels when talking to their creditors. They do know that the government essentially did a U-turn on the austerity issue, was forced to swallow it.
I think what's going on is that people believe that, even though Syriza didn't succeed, it failed not because of its own tactical errors, but because Greece as a nation isn't strong enough to face down international creditors, international institutions and 27 European Union partners, all of whom have voting publics to answer to.
So I think people are essentially willing to give this government the benefit of the doubt for another term.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, quickly, the austerity measures that will be implemented 15 will be what we — what they were supposed to be before, or will they be weakened as a result of this?
JOHN PSAROPOULOS: No, the conservatives, when they fell from power, were negotiating something in the neighborhood of a billion dollars in additional austerity measures that would have taken effect this year.
The deal that we now have in July looks — is set to impose austerity measures worth at least $15 billion over three years, roughly 2, 2.5 percent of the economy each year. Therefore, it is much worse. But what Syriza argues is that, yes, we were forced to bow to this, but we did also get a $40 billion investment program, a development program from the European Commission. That's being funded federally, if you like. We did also got an understanding that our primary surpluses — that means the amount of money that will be extracted from the Greek economy to pay creditors — will be far lower than what was originally foreseen.
Syriza says that the Greek public has been spared about $22 billion worth of payments to creditors. And, thirdly, the party says, we will be distributing the burden of the present austerity much more fairly, much more equitably 16. It won't be just the poor and middle class. The rich will also pay their share.
JUDY WOODRUFF: John Psaropoulos in Athens, we thank you.
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
- The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
- He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
ad.坚持地
- Still Rhett did not look at her. His eyes were bent insistently on Melanie's white face. 瑞德还是看也不看她,他的眼睛死死地盯着媚兰苍白的脸。
- These are the questions which we should think and explore insistently. 怎样实现这一主体性等问题仍要求我们不断思考、探索。
n.讹诈,敲诈,勒索,胁迫,恫吓
- She demanded $1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
- The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。
n.洗冤,证实
- There is much to be said in vindication of his claim.有很多理由可以提出来为他的要求作辩护。
- The result was a vindication of all our efforts.这一结果表明我们的一切努力是必要的。
n.债权人,债主( creditor的名词复数 )
- They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.托管地;命令,指示
- 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。
n.反对,敌对
- 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。
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
- All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
- Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
n.结合体,同盟,结合,联合
- 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。
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上
- Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
- She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。
adv. 破坏性地,毁灭性地,极其
- She was utterly feminine and devastatingly attractive in an unstudied way. 她温存无比,魅力四射而又绝不矫揉造作。
- I refuted him devastatingly from point to point. 我对他逐项痛加驳斥。
n.(意见等的)一致,一致同意,共识
- Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗?
- What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么?
n.战略,策略;adj.战术的,有策略的
- Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
- She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。
adj.有薄雾的,朦胧的;不肯定的,模糊的
- We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
- I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。
v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 );执行;贯彻;使生效
- This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革,经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句