默克爾聯盟未能就德國新總統人選達成一致

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s attempt to choose a new German president by consensus has run into trouble after her Social DeMocrat coalition partners proposed foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier for the job.

總理安格拉.默克爾(Angela Merkel)試圖以協商一致方式選出德國新總統的努力遭到挫折。此前，她的聯盟夥伴社民黨(SDP)提議由外長弗蘭克-瓦爾特.施泰因邁爾(Frank-Walter Steinmeier)接任新總統。

By putting forward a top party member to succeed 76-year-old former pastor Joachim Gauck, the SPD is pushing Ms Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc to nominate a leader from its own ranks — and engage in a contested election.

社民黨提議由本黨重要成員接替76歲的前牧師約阿希姆.高克(Joachim Gauck)，將推動默克爾領導的基民盟/基社盟(CDU/CSU)聯盟從己方陣營指定一名領袖人物——然後由兩者競選總統。

The succession hunt comes as next year’s parliamentary elections looms large on the horizon. Although the presidency is largely honorary, Ms Merkel and SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel both think that the party securing the job could benefit in the Bundestag poll, even if it is only from the kudos of winning.

在明年議會選舉即將到來之際，總統繼任角逐開始了。儘管總統主要是個名譽職位，但默克爾和社民黨領導人西格馬爾.加布里爾(Sigmar Gabriel)都認爲，由本黨人士出任總統，可能會讓本黨在德國聯邦議院(Bundestag)選舉中受益，即遍只是聲望方面的勝利。

Ms Merkel would prefer not to rock the boat and to focus on recovering support from voters alienated by her controversial refugee policies. But Mr Gabriel, as the junior coalition partner, wants to move out of the chancellor’s shadow before the Bundestag election by picking some fights.

默克爾更願意不打破現狀，希望集中精力重新獲得被她的爭議性難民政策疏遠的選民的支持。但是，加布里爾作爲聯盟中分量較輕的夥伴，希望通過挑起一些爭鬥，在聯邦議院選舉之前擺脫默克爾的陰影。

Ms Merkel originally hoped the popular Mr Gauck would stay for a second five-year term when his presidency ends in March. After Mr Gauck announced his planned retirement in the summer, she sought a conservative-social democrat consensus candidate. But soundings taken among lawyers, academics and church leaders have proved fruitless.

默克爾最初希望，明年3月任期結束時，頗受歡迎的高克開始第二個五年任期。在今夏高克宣佈打算退休後，默克爾尋求跟保守的社民黨經過協商推出候選人。但是，在律師、學者和教會領袖當中的物色沒有成功。

Peter Tauber, CDU secretary-general, said at the weekend that he still wanted a joint candidate “who stands above party conflicts and builds bridges in society”.

基民盟祕書長彼得.陶貝爾(Peter Tauber)在週末表示，他仍然希望推出一位聯合候選人，“此人超越了黨派衝突，能爲社會搭建橋樑”。

But Mr Gabriel announced in an interview on Monday in Bild, the top-selling newspaper, that he would back 60-year-old Mr Steinmeier because he understood “the challenges of our time”. Opinion polls regularly rate the foreign minister as Germany’s most popular politician.

但是，加布里爾在週一接受暢銷報紙《圖片報》(Bild)採訪時表示，他將支持60歲的施泰因邁爾，因爲此人理解“我們這個時代的挑戰”。民調結果經常顯示，這位外長是德國最受歡迎的政治家。

If the CDU/CSU puts forward a partisan choice, one favourite could be finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble. But the tough 74-year-old campaigner would then be lost to the bloc in the parliamentary election.

如果基民盟/基社盟提出一名黨內人選，很可能是財長沃爾夫岡.朔伊布勒(Wolfgang Schäuble)。但是，這位74歲的強硬競選者在議會選舉中將不再屬於基民盟/基社盟聯盟。