【“英”有尽有】英国政府陷入“悬浮议会”局面（双语新闻）

Britain's Conservatives have lost their majority in a snap general election that has resulted in a hung parliament.

英国保守党在一场提前选举中丢掉了绝大多数席位，导致该国陷入“悬浮议会”的局面。

This is seen as a humiliation for PM Minister Theresa May, who chose to call the election to try to strengthen her hand in talks with the EU on Brexit.

这被视为首相特蕾莎·梅的羞辱，她发起大选的目的本是为了加强自己在议会里的势力，从而在与欧盟的脱欧谈判中有更多主导权。

A shaky Theresa May vowed to fight on today despite suffering catastrophic losses as her election gamble humiliatingly backfired.

特蕾莎·梅颤抖着发誓今日要继续战斗，尽管她赌输了这场大选，颜面丢尽，还遭受巨大损失。

CNN说，梅相这是上了民调的当：

It was a devastating result for May, who had called the election three years earlier than required by law, convinced by opinion polls that placed her far ahead of opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

这对梅相来说是一个毁灭性的打击。民调结果显示她的支持率远高于工党领袖科尔宾，她深信不疑，才把法律规定的三年后的大选提前到了现在。

总而言之，现在的“悬浮议会”让英国的政局又重新陷入混乱。

那么，到底什么是“悬浮议会”（hung Parliament）呢？这就要从英国的选举制度说起了。

▸首先我们需要了解英国的议会制度。英国议会（the UK Parliament）由三部分组成：

▌下议院（lower house），又称平民院（the house of Commons），主要负责立法（make laws）和讨论议案（debate proposals）。

▌上议院（upper house），又称贵族院（the house of Lords），主要负责审查法案（check proposed laws）和提出修改意见（suggest amendments）。

▌女王（the Queen），主要职责是通过法律（approves laws）。

上议院的议员不是选举产生的，由王室后裔、世袭贵族、终身贵族、离任首相等组成。

下议院的议员则是由民主选举（democratically elected）产生，至少每五年换届一次。

不过这次大选并不是五年期满的换届选举，而是“提前选举”（snap election）。

英国大选实际上选的就是下议院的议员，下议院的政党组成将决定首相人选。

大选采取的制度叫做简单多数选举制（First-past-the-post election system）。

▸具体怎么选呢？

Each constituency in the UK elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to a seat in the House of Commons.

每位选民选择一位议会议员进入下议院。

The candidates standing for election are usually drawn from political parties, but can also stand as independents. The person with the most votes in a constituency is elected as its MP, to represent that area in the House of Commons.

候选人通常来自于某个政党，但也可以是独立候选人。在一个选区获得最多票数的候选人当选议员，代表该选区在下议院发言。

The House of Commons consists of 650 members. Any party that wins an outright majority of 326 or more seats can form a government. The leader of the political party is expected to be asked by the Queen to become prime minister.

下议院有650个席位。任何党派只要获得不少于326个席位的绝对多数，就可以组建政府，其领袖由女王任命成为英国首相。

The leader of the political party with the second highest number of MPs normally becomes leader of the opposition.

获得席位次多的政党，其领袖通常就成为反对党领导人。

如果没有党派赢得绝对多数席位怎么办？这时候悬浮议会就出现了。

▸悬浮议会

When no single party can get enough MPs to form a majority on its own the Parliament is said to be "hung". This happened at the 2010 general election.

当没有任何党派赢得绝对多数议员席位时，议会就成为“悬浮”议会了。2010年英国大选曾出现过“悬浮议会”。

The expression comes from the term "hung jury," when jurors cannot decide on a verdict and a retrial is needed.

这一表达来源于“hung jury”（陪审团僵局），指陪审团因陪审员意见不一致而未能做出裁定，需要重审。

In UK elections this result does not automatically trigger another election. Instead, the party with the largest number of seats -- in this case, the Conservatives -- will attempt to form a coalition government with one of the smaller parties.

在英国大选中，“悬浮议会”并不会触发另一次大选。席位最多的政党——也就是保守党——将和一个小党派组成联合政府。

The second-largest party -- which would be Labour -- can also start parallel talks to try to form a coalition of its own in an effort to reach the magic number of 326.

席位次多的政党——工党——也可以跟其他党派联合，只要席位能达到326。

If no-one can reach a deal, a party could try form a minority government, but it would struggle to pass laws in parliament.

如果没有一方能达到326个席位，将由某个政党组成少数派政府，但它想要在议会通过法案就比较难了。

来源：中国日报双语新闻

编辑：知更