Czech politics
捷克政坛
Wobbled, not toppled
摇摆不定，尚未倒台
The Czech government survives amid mounting public disgust
捷克政府在民众与日俱增的唾骂中挣扎
THE squabbling parties of the Czech centre-right prefer to stay in power than face voters’ wrath. That is the upshot of the latest storm in Czech politics, which started with a split in the Public Affairs party (VV, by its Czech initials). Formerly part of the ruling coalition, its internal feuds came to a head after the conviction for bribery of its leading light, Vit Barta. A deputy prime minister, Karolina Peake, left with seven other deputies, amid growing concern about the party’s tactics and behaviour.
捷克政坛陷入新一轮危机，捷克“公共事务党” 产生分裂， 造成捷克中右翼党派吵吵嚷嚷，争论不休，他们宁愿抓住权力不放，也不愿意面对选民们的愤怒。（按捷克语第一个字母简称VV党） 公共事务党是捷克执政联盟的党派之一，该党领袖巴塔（Vit Barta）因贪污被定罪，之后党内出现内讧事件，事态发展现已呈现白热化， 捷克副总理佩克（Karolina Peake）和其他七名议员退出公共事务党。人们对该党的应对策略和一举一动倍加关注。
The immediate loser in this is the VV, which is now polling below the 5% threshold. Its association with ABL, a private security company founded by Mr Barta, does not help. ABL’s reputed expertise in the waters that flow murkily between officialdom, politics, business and intelligence has given the Czech language a new word: abelizace. Documents published last year by the newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes (and strenuously denied by Mr Barta) suggest that he instructed party members to inflate public contracts and pay kickbacks. Party members also seem to have bugged each others’ phones. The VV’s wobbles in the dying days of the coalition led to an outburst from the prime minister, Petr Necas, who termed it “untrustworthy, irrational and hysterical”.
在此次的事件中，公共事务党遭受了直接打击，该党目前支持率低于5%，甚至达不到进入议会的资格。 虽然和巴塔创立的私人安保公司ABL有着密切的关系，可还是于事无补。 ABL公司的触角遍布捷克上下，从官场，到政坛，从商业，到情报部门，无所不在，因而创造了一个新的捷克语辞汇：abelizace（关系网）。 据捷克报纸Mlada fronta Dnes 去年披露的文件显示，巴塔指使公共事务党成员提高政府合约的价格，并且向他人支付回扣（巴塔对此极力否认）。 此外，公共事务党成员还在彼此的电话中安装窃听装置。 执政联盟面临倒台危机，而此时公共事务党出现动荡，捷克总理内恰斯（Petr Necas）勃然大怒，他用这样的词来形容这次的事件：“不值得信赖，荒谬之极，歇斯底里。”
Ms Peake and the defectors, plus a few others, were set to back the government in a confidence vote this week, giving it a narrow majority and postponing the early election demanded by the opposition Social Democrats, who are riding high in the opinion polls. But the government’s main task will be to restore public confidence before the scheduled election in 2014.
副总理佩克、几位脱离公共事务党的成员还有其他一些人士在本周的信任投票中选择支持现政府，执政联盟因而获得了微弱优势，反对党社会民主党（Social Democrats）提出的提前进行大选一事也被推迟。民调结果显示社会民主党目前支持率很高。 在2014年正式举行大选之前重获民心是现政府要完成的主要任务。
The three-party coalition took office in 2010 amid high hopes. Its large majority meant it would not be held hostage by individual lawmakers and those able to exert pressure on them. And it contained two new parties committed to blitzing sleaze: the VV and the TOP ’09 party.
2010年，三党执政联盟上台，民众对他们寄予了厚望。 执政联盟在议会中占有绝大多数席位，既不会受个别人议员的要挟，也不用理会那些可对他们施加压力的势力。 执政联盟包括两个新成立的党派：公共事务党和TOP09党（传统责任繁荣保守党）。
Two years on, those hopes have shrivelled. The majority has splintered; scandals have spread. Local ODS and Social Democrat chiefs carved up municipal government in Prague for a time, leaving voters incensed. Corruption allegations-real or invented-are readily levelled and rarely investigated properly. They have become the principal political currency, with corrosive effects. Czechs are fed up with the standards of public life and with austerity policies aimed at getting the deficit below 3% of GDP next year. Polls show that 80% of people do not trust the government. A protest in Prague’s Wenceslas Square on April 21st was one of the largest since the 1989 revolution. But in those days the alternative was clearer and a lot more appealing.
两年后，民众对执政联盟越来越失望。 多数优势分崩瓦解，丑闻频发。 公民民主党（ODS）和社会民主党的官员曾一度瓜分布拉格市政府，选民对此无不群情愤恨。 那些或真或假的贪腐指控，要么很快地被平息，要么无法进行严格的调查。 这就是现在的捷克政坛，腐坏现象无处不在。 为了实现明年预算赤字低于GDP的3%的目标，捷克政府推行公共生活标准，实施多项紧缩政策，捷克民众对此厌倦不已。 民调结果显示，八成的民众对现政府失去信心。 4月21日，民众在布拉格温塞斯拉斯广场(Wenceslas Square)举行抗议活动，这是自1989年捷克天鹅绒革命以来最大的一次示威活动。 不过那时候现政府选择面对民众的愤怒，这也是种明智之举。
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