希臘總理齊普拉斯宣佈提前舉行大選
Greece is to hold a snap general election, likely to be on September 20, just weeks after securing a new $86bn bailout deal with its international creditors.
希臘即將提前舉行大選，日期很可能是9月20日。僅僅幾周之前，希臘與國際債權人達成了一項新的860億歐元的紓困協議。
Fresh elections, called by prime minister Alexis Tsipras on the very first day of the bailout programme, will plunge Greece back into short-term political uncertainty.
就在該紓困計劃實施的第一天，希臘總理亞歷克西斯倠溟拉斯(Alexis Tsipras)宣佈將舉行新的大選，這將把希臘推回至短期的政治不確定性中。
But they could allow Mr Tsipras, leader of the leftwing Syriza party, to capitalise on his enduring popularity in the hope of yielding a more stable government that is not held back by far-left critics of the rescue terms. It will be the sixth general election in eight years.
但是，大選可以讓激進左翼聯盟黨(Syriza)領導人齊普拉斯利用自己的長期支持率，有望產生一屆更加穩定、不會被紓困條款的極左批評者束縛住手腳的政府。這將是8年內的第6次大選。
Mr Tsipras announced the decision on national television, saying the governing coalition — formed by Syriza and the small right-wing Independent Greeks party after the previous election in January — would resign, making way for an interim administration to oversee the election. “The political mandate of the January 25 elections has exhausted its limits and now the Greek people have to have their say,” he said.
齊普拉斯在全國電視臺上宣佈了這一決定，表示當前執政聯盟——在今年1月的前一次大選之後由激進左翼聯盟黨和右翼小黨派獨立希臘人黨(Independent Greeks)組建而成——將會辭職，爲負責大選的臨時政府讓路。“1月25日大選的政治授權已耗盡，現在希臘人民必須發表自己的意見，”他說。
The poll campaign is expected to delay implementation of fiscal and structural reforms agreed with creditors since the interim government will lack a mandate to take decisions.
投票活動預計將推遲希臘與債權人達成的財政與結構性改革措施的執行，因爲臨時政府將缺少做出決定的授權。
But Nicolas Véron, senior fellow at Brussels-based think-tank Bruegel, said: “While the election is disruptive in the short term, the likelihood is that it will result in a coalition that is less dysfunctional than the one we have now, and better able to provide stability in implementing the reform programme.’’
但是，布魯塞爾Bruegel智庫高級研究員尼古拉斯韋龍(Nicolas Véron)說：“儘管選舉在短期內具有破壞性，但它可能將產生一個執政聯盟，這個聯盟不像當前聯盟這麼運轉失靈，更有能力提供執行改革方案所需的穩定性。”
Mr Tsipras’ decision to call an election came hours after the finance ministry announced that the European Stability Mechanism, the EU rescue fund, had approved disbursement of 13bn from the new bailout package — the third Greece has required. The sum was enough to cover funding needs for the next two months.
齊普拉斯宣佈舉行大選的幾個小時之前，希臘財政部宣佈，作爲歐盟(EU)紓困基金的歐洲穩定機制(ESM)已同意根據新的紓困方案（這是希臘要求的第三輪紓困）撥款130億歐元。此數額足夠滿足未來兩個月的資金需求。
The European Central Bank confirmed that Athens had repaid 3.2bn in bonds due yesterday.
歐洲央行(ECB)證實，希臘已償還了昨日到期的32億歐元債券。
