中國(guó)網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 Berlusconi candidates have been barred from standing in crucial regional elections.(Agencies)
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A political comedy of errors has hurt Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's coalition less than a month before key regional elections, in the latest headache for a man already weighed down by a string of scandals. In a fiasco that Italian newspapers said left Berlusconi fuming at his aides, his People of Freedom (PDL) coalition missed the deadline for registering candidates in Rome province for key regional elections seen as a test of national strength. Rome province, the largest in the Lazio region of which Rome is capital, has more than 2 million voters. Thirteen of Italy's 20 regions will vote on March 28-29. While not the largest or richest region up for grabs, Lazio is perhaps the most symbolic as it is the seat of the national government. Losing it would be a major embarrassment for Berlusconi, who was shaken last month by a high-profile corruption scandal concerning the head of the civil protection agency, a close aide. Berlusconi also faces two trials, for tax fraud and for bribery. He denies all wrongdoing. Lazio had been considered an easy win for Berlusconi's centre-right coalition because the region's ex-governor, Piero Marazzo, a leftist, resigned after a sex and drugs scandal. But the weekend's events have destroyed that certainty. An opinion poll published last month showed Berlusconi's approval rating slipping to 46 percent after remaining at or above 50 percent for long periods. The new developments were certainly not good news coming four weeks before the elections. Berlusconi's coalition said the deadline was missed because its representative was distracted outside the electoral office on Saturday by an argument with a member of another party. But media reports and irate centre-right bloggers spoke of bungling and incompetence in the party, which commentators said could only hurt Berlusconi's image. The representative not only arrived at the last minute but did not have all the proper documents with him. Some reports said the deadline was missed because of internal bickering about names of candidates for regional councillors. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
眼下距離意大利關(guān)鍵性的地方選舉僅剩不到一個(gè)月的時(shí)間，而一出荒唐的政治鬧劇卻影響了意大利總理西爾維奧?貝盧斯科尼領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的執(zhí)政聯(lián)盟的參選，使已經(jīng)一腦門官司的老貝又多了樁煩心事。 意大利的地方選舉被視為國(guó)家實(shí)力的試金石，而貝盧斯科尼領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的自由人民聯(lián)盟則錯(cuò)過(guò)了此次選舉羅馬省的候選人登記截止時(shí)間。據(jù)意大利報(bào)紙報(bào)道，老貝因這個(gè)失誤對(duì)其手下大為惱火。 羅馬省是拉齊奧區(qū)最大的一個(gè)省，拉齊奧區(qū)的首府為羅馬市。羅馬省擁有200多萬(wàn)選民。意大利20個(gè)大區(qū)中的13個(gè)區(qū)將于本月28日至29日舉行選舉。 盡管拉齊奧區(qū)并不是意大利最大或最富有的選區(qū)，但由于是政府所在地，所以該區(qū)的選舉結(jié)果或許最具象征意義。 如果選舉失利，貝盧斯科尼將陷入十分尷尬的境地。上月，老貝的“心腹”、意大利民事保護(hù)局局長(zhǎng)卷入一起高層腐敗丑聞，使得他自己也受到牽連。此外，他還面臨逃稅和受賄兩項(xiàng)指控。但他否認(rèn)了所有的指控。 貝盧斯科尼領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的中右翼聯(lián)盟原本有望在拉齊奧區(qū)輕松取勝，因?yàn)樵搮^(qū)的前區(qū)長(zhǎng)、左翼人士皮耶羅?馬拉佐因性和毒品丑聞辭職。但上周末的這起“事故”則攪亂了這一大好局勢(shì)。 上月公布的一次民調(diào)顯示，貝盧斯科尼的支持率下滑至46%，而此前他的支持率一直穩(wěn)居50%或更高。眼下距選舉只剩四周時(shí)間，這出鬧劇對(duì)老貝來(lái)說(shuō)的確不是什么好消息。 貝盧斯科尼領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的執(zhí)政聯(lián)盟稱，之所以錯(cuò)過(guò)了上周六的登記時(shí)間，是因?yàn)榈怯洿懋?dāng)時(shí)在選舉辦公室外與另一黨派的一名成員發(fā)生了爭(zhēng)論。 但媒體報(bào)道和氣憤的中右翼人士在博客中都將矛頭指向了黨內(nèi)的混亂和辦事不利。評(píng)論人士稱這只會(huì)損壞貝盧斯科尼的形象。 據(jù)稱，這名代表不僅在最后一刻才趕到現(xiàn)場(chǎng)，而且沒有帶全所需材料。有報(bào)道稱，錯(cuò)過(guò)登記其實(shí)是由于黨內(nèi)對(duì)地方議員候選人名單發(fā)生了爭(zhēng)執(zhí)。 相關(guān)閱讀 意總理選女明星競(jìng)選歐洲議會(huì) 引夫人發(fā)飚 （中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 Julie 編輯蔡姍姍） |
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Vocabulary: weigh down：to lower the spirits of; burden; depress（過(guò)度憂慮） fiasco：complete and ignominious failure（慘敗） up for grabs：available to anyone willing to expend the energy to get it（提供的，可供爭(zhēng)奪的） bickering：an angry, petty dispute or quarrel; contention（爭(zhēng)吵，爭(zhēng)論） |
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