馬克龍勝選爲法國歐盟帶來希望

The alacrity European leaders showed in congratulating Emmanuel Macron on his emphatic victory said it all. France’s president-in-waiting is an assiduous advocate of openness and internationalism. He is a committed pro-European, who marched on stage on Sunday night to the strains of the EU’s anthem and pledged in his first address to defend the continent’s values and rebuild its links with citizens. Above all, he is not Marine Le Pen.

歐洲領導人在祝賀埃馬紐埃爾?馬克龍(Emmanuel Macron)取得大勝時溢於言表的欣喜之情，已經說明了一切。這位侯任法國總統是開放精神和國際主義的熱情倡導者。他是一位堅定的親歐派。上週日晚，他在歐盟盟歌聲中走上臺，在當選後首次講話中承諾捍衛歐洲大陸的價值觀，努力重建歐盟與民衆的聯繫。最重要的一點是，他不是馬琳?勒龐(Marine Le Pen)。

Yet the widespread relief at his election — with a commanding 66 per cent of the vote, more than polls had predicted — must be tempered by realism.

然而，雖然他當選——得票率高達66%，超出選前民調的預期——讓人們普遍鬆了一口氣，這種情緒在現實面前卻必須打些折扣。

Mr Macron’s achievement, becoming the youngest ever occupant of the Elysée Palace with no experience of elected office and none of the supporting machinery of a traditional political party, is astonishing. He was aided by the implosion of his Republican and Socialist rivals and also, thankfully, by the large majority that remains resolved to deny the far-right power, even if they dislike the alternative.

馬克龍取得了驚人的成就，他沒有擔任民選公職的經驗，也未得到一個傳統政黨的支持，卻成爲史上最年輕的即將入主愛麗捨宮(Elysée Palace)的法國總統。來自共和黨和社會黨的競爭對手自毀長城，還有，幸運的是，大多數選民仍堅決抵制極右勢力，即便他們也不喜歡另一選項。這兩點都對他的選情起到了幫助。

Mr Macron has shown that it is possible to craft a liberal, centrist response to the populist politics of national identity and protectionism. He has done so, not by adopting any diluted version of the National Front’s ideas, but by appealing to voters’ intelligence. He has steadfastly refused either to accept his opponent’s depiction of a nation doomed to decline or to vie with her in promising the unattainable.

馬克龍已證明，以自由主義、中間立場的路線來回應關於國家認同和保護主義的民粹主義政治是有現實可能的。他做到了，不是通過採納國民陣線(National Front)觀點的任何稀釋版，而是訴諸於選民的智識。他堅決拒絕接受對手關於法國註定要衰落的說法，也絕不跟她比着承諾一些根本做不到的事情。

It is reassuring to see there is still an audience for this kind of rational argument — and that voters do not seem to have been swayed by security scares, or by the dubious attempts to discredit Mr Macron online in the campaign’s closing stages. Mainstream politicians had prevailed in the Dutch and Austrian elections and the French vote gives Europe grounds to hope that the populist insurgency has peaked.

我們欣慰地看到，這種理性觀點仍有支持者，選民似乎沒有被安全恐慌或者競選尾聲網絡上企圖抹黑馬克龍的可疑傳言所左右。在荷蘭與奧地利的選舉中，主流政治家已佔據了優勢，而法國此次選舉讓歐洲有理由希望，這場民粹主義反叛浪潮見頂了。

The president-elect’s battles are only just beginning, of course. He was the first to acknowledge this, warning his supporters of the “immense” task ahead of them.

當然，這位當選法國總統的戰鬥纔剛剛開始。他自己第一個承認了這一點，對支持者們警告稱，未來面臨着“艱鉅的”任務。

It is a depressing sign of the times that an election in which more than a third of voters backed the leader of an overtly xenophobic party rooted in anti-Semitism should seem cause for celebration. Ms Le Pen won almost twice as many votes as her father did 15 years ago. She is now styling herself as the official opposition. A quarter of the electorate stayed at home and large numbers opted to spoil their ballot. Mr Macron has a huge job ahead of him to restore faith in the possibility of a vital, democratic, prosperous France.

在這場選舉中，有逾三分之一的選民支持一個根植於反猶主義、公然排外的政黨的領導人，而且這樣的結果似乎值得慶幸，這實在是這個時代一個令人沮喪的跡象。勒龐的得票率幾乎是15年前她父親的兩倍。她如今自詡爲正規的反對派。四分之一的選民呆在家裏，還有很多人選擇投出廢票。馬克龍的一大任務是重燃人們的信心，讓他們相信法國成爲一個充滿活力、民主和繁榮國度的可能性。

His promise is to use his five years in office to ensure that none of those who felt driven to vote for the extremes will have cause to do so again. That will require reforms — of the economy, labour market and public sector — of the kind that successive presidents have attempted and failed to sustain.

他承諾將利用在任的5年時間，確保那些想投票給極端者的人再也沒有理由那麼幹。這就需要進行改革，包括經濟、就業市場和公共部門改革，歷任法國總統都曾嘗試過這樣的改革，但都未能持久。

One advantage of Mr Macron’s repudiation of party politics is that he is not hobbled by promises made to this faction or that during the campaign. He has been forthright and unapologetic about his overall intentions. But to act on them, he will need to legislate. He may have enough momentum for his fledgling En Marche! movement to become the National Assembly’s largest party in next month’s legislative elections but, with the traditional parties regrouping, it is hard to see how he can win an outright majority.

馬克龍摒棄政黨政治的一個優勢是，他不會受制於在競選中對這一派或那一派的承諾。他向來是直截了當、堅決地表明自己全盤的意圖。但要把意願轉化爲行動，他需要推動立法。憑藉他眼下的聲勢，他領導的羽翼未豐的“前進”運動(En Marche!)或許能在下月議會選舉中成爲第一大黨，但隨着傳統政黨改組，我們很難看出他如何能贏得絕對多數席位。

“I will not let any obstacle stop me,” Mr Macron declared on Sunday night. Let us hope he can pull it off. If he succeeds, he might jolt France out of its deep-seated malaise and restore it as a force for reform and renewal across Europe. If he fails, Ms Le Pen will be back next time.

“我不會讓任何障礙阻擋住腳步，”馬克龍上週日晚宣稱。但願他能做到。如果他成功了，那他也許能帶領法國迅速擺脫深陷的困境，讓法國重新成爲歐洲改革與復興的一支力量。如果他失敗了，勒龐將捲土重來。