評論
打印
Europe Elections in Sicily
歐洲 西西里島改選
Tip of the boot
鞋尖上的土地
Sicily’s vote and Italy’s future
西西里的一票關乎意大利的前程
Were Sicily an independent state, its 5m people would give it a bigger population than eight countries in the EU. The island has always mattered, seldom more than now. On October 28th its voters will choose a new regional governor and parliament in the first big test of public opinion in the run-up to Italy’s next general election, probably in April. How Sicilians vote may answer some of the many questions that hang over the national vote.
如果把意大利的西西里島（Sicily）算作一個獨立的國家，其500萬人口將一舉超過歐盟（EU）的8個國家。這塊島嶼的地位舉足輕重，而現在更是如此。意大利預計于明年四月進行新一輪大選，而在此之前作為首次大規模的民意測試，10月28日西西里島將面臨地區政府的改選。西西里島的本次投票結果，可能會解開圍繞全國大選諸多問題中的一部分。
It could make or break the chances of Angelino Alfano, the secretary of Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative People of Freedom movement (PdL). On October 24th Mr Berlusconi confirmed he would not run again for prime minister and announced a primary election to choose the PdL’s candidate on December 16th. Mr Alfano, a Sicilian whom the media tycoon had named as his successor, is a front-runner. But if his native island, where Mr Berlusconi won all 61 seats in Italy’s 2001 general election, veers left, it will blight his chances.
對于偏向保守的“自由人民黨”（PdL，意大利前總理貝盧斯科尼（Silvio Berlusconi）所屬其中）秘書長阿爾法諾（Angelino Alfano）而言，本次西西里島選舉非福即禍。10月24日，貝盧斯科尼前總理聲明不會再度競選意大利總理一職，并宣稱于12月6日舉行初選，以決定該黨的競選人。西西里島出身的阿爾法諾已被傳媒巨頭指明為貝盧斯科尼的后任，并在候選人中遙遙領先。西西里島原本是貝盧斯科尼于2001年意大利大選時贏得61票之地，但若這塊阿爾法諾的故土突然倒戈向左派，他的希望將頓時變得渺茫。
Plagued by splits and regional graft scandals, the PdL is bleeding support. The last opinion poll gave its candidate for governor, Sebastiano (“Nello”) Musumeci, only a slim lead over Rosario Crocetta of the Democratic Party (PD), Italy’s biggest left-wing group.
但受到黨內分裂和各地行賄丑聞的影響，自由人民黨的人氣不斷下滑。最近一次民調顯示，在本次參與西西里島政府競選的候選人中，相比意大利第一左翼大黨“意大利民主黨”（PD）代表克羅斯塔（Rosario Crocetta），自由人民黨候選人姆蘇美琪（Sebastiano Musumeci）的優勢并不明顯。
Mr Crocetta is yoked to the conservative Christian Democrat Union of the Centre (UDC). But the PD plans to fight the general election alongside the more radical Left, Ecology and Freedom (SEL) movement. Victory for the PD-UDC ticket in Sicily could prompt a rethink, especially if the PD’s leader, Pier Luigi Bersani, loses his job to a more centrist rival, Matteo Renzi, in a primary election in November. This choice of partners could affect the fate of Mario Monti, the non-party technocrat who has been Italy’s prime minister since last November. He would find it a lot more comfortable to belong to a PD-UDC coalition than to a PD-SEL one.
與克羅斯塔聯合的是偏保守的“基督教與中間派民主聯盟”（UDC，簡稱“中間聯盟”）。但民主黨在本次大選中，打算與更激進的左派政黨“生態自由黨”（SEL）合作。若此兩黨在本次西西里選舉中勝出，尤其是若前者的黨首貝爾薩尼（Pier Luigi Bersani）在11月黨內初選中敗給其立場更為偏中的對手馬特奧·蘭奇（Matteo Renzi）的話，意大利大選將引來再議。民主黨的這一選擇，也將影響到去年11月就任意大利總理的技術型專家馬里奧·蒙蒂（Mario Monti）。在他看來，比起與生態自由黨結盟，民主黨與中間聯盟合作會更可取。
The joker—literally as well as politically—is Beppe Grillo, the comedian whose vitriolically anti-establishment Five Star Movement is again surging on a wave of indignation at the recent corruption scandals. After swimming to Sicily from the mainland, he has conducted a vigorous campaign for his party’s candidate, filling town squares, and rattling mainstream commentators and politicians with his raucous populism.
對此，著名意大利喜劇演員貝貝·格里洛（Beppe Grillo）從文字上和政治上都進行了調侃。其建立黨派“五星運動”（Five Star Movement）尖刻地抨擊著現行體制。而本次，該黨再一次就近期腐敗丑聞激起軒然大波。最近，格里格從意大利本島游至西西里島。其后，他為該黨的候選人發起了一場有力的競選，活動充斥了各個小鎮廣場。同時，格里格尖銳的民粹主義也讓主流評論家和政治家倍感緊張。翻譯：沈驁
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