意總理政黨錯過地方選舉登記 恐不戰自敗

A political comedy of errors has hurt Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's coalition less than a month before key regional elections, in the latest headache for a man already weighed down by a string of scandals.

In a fiasco that Italian newspapers said left Berlusconi fuming at his aides, his People of Freedom (PDL) coalition missed the deadline for registering candidates in Rome province for key regional elections seen as a test of national strength.

Rome province, the largest in the Lazio region of which Rome is capital, has more than 2 million voters. Thirteen of Italy's 20 regions will vote on March 28-29.

While not the largest or richest region up for grabs, Lazio is perhaps the most symbolic as it is the seat of the national government.

Losing it would be a major embarrassment for Berlusconi, who was shaken last month by a high-profile corruption scandal concerning the head of the civil protection agency, a close aide. Berlusconi also faces two trials, for tax fraud and for bribery. He denies all wrongdoing.

Lazio had been considered an easy win for Berlusconi's centre-right coalition because the region's ex-governor, Piero Marazzo, a leftist, resigned after a sex and drugs scandal. But the weekend's events have destroyed that certainty.

An opinion poll published last month showed Berlusconi's approval rating slipping to 46 percent after remaining at or above 50 percent for long periods. The new developments were certainly not good news coming four weeks before the elections.

Berlusconi's coalition said the deadline was missed because its representative was distracted outside the electoral office on Saturday by an argument with a member of another party.

But media reports and irate centre-right bloggers spoke of bungling and incompetence in the party, which commentators said could only hurt Berlusconi's image.

The representative not only arrived at the last minute but did not have all the proper documents with him. Some reports said the deadline was missed because of internal bickering about names of candidates for regional councillors.

眼下距離意大利關鍵性的地方選舉僅剩不到一個月的時間，而一出荒唐的政治鬧劇卻影響了意大利總理西爾維奧•貝盧斯科尼領導的執政聯盟的參選，使已經一腦門官司的老貝又多了樁煩心事。

意大利的地方選舉被視爲國家實力的試金石，而貝盧斯科尼領導的自由人民聯盟則錯過了此次選舉羅馬省的候選人登記截止時間。據意大利報紙報道，老貝因這個失誤對其手下大爲惱火。

羅馬省是拉齊奧區最大的一個省，拉齊奧區的首府爲羅馬市。羅馬省擁有200多萬選民。意大利20個大區中的13個區將於本月28日至29日舉行選舉。

儘管拉齊奧區並不是意大利最大或最富有的選區，但由於是政府所在地，所以該區的選舉結果或許最具象徵意義。

如果選舉失利，貝盧斯科尼將陷入十分尷尬的境地。上月，老貝的“心腹”、意大利民事保護局局長卷入一起高層腐敗醜聞，使得他自己也受到牽連。此外，他還面臨逃稅和受賄兩項指控。但他否認了所有的指控。

貝盧斯科尼領導的中右翼聯盟原本有望在拉齊奧區輕鬆取勝，因爲該區的前區長、左翼人士皮耶羅•馬拉佐因性和毒品醜聞辭職。但上週末的這起“事故”則攪亂了這一大好局勢。

上月公佈的一次民調顯示，貝盧斯科尼的支持率下滑至46%，而此前他的支持率一直穩居50%或更高。眼下距選舉只剩四周時間，這出鬧劇對老貝來說的確不是什麼好消息。

貝盧斯科尼領導的執政聯盟稱，之所以錯過了上週六的登記時間，是因爲登記代表當時在選舉辦公室外與另一黨派的一名成員發生了爭論。

但媒體報道和氣憤的中右翼人士在博客中都將矛頭指向了黨內的混亂和辦事不利。評論人士稱這隻會損壞貝盧斯科尼的形象。

據稱，這名代表不僅在最後一刻才趕到現場，而且沒有帶全所需材料。有報道稱，錯過登記其實是由於黨內對地方議員候選人名單發生了爭執。

Vocabulary:

weigh down：to lower the spirits of; burden; depress（過度憂慮）

fiasco：complete and ignominious failure（慘敗）

up for grabs：available to anyone willing to expend the energy to get it（提供的，可供爭奪的）

bickering：an angry, petty dispute or quarrel; contention（爭吵，爭論）