布朗宣布将辞职 以促工党与自民党组阁

【英文原文】

Brown To Resign, As Confusion Reigns In UK
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he will step down within months as leader of the country and his Party, but the U.K's confused political landscape was thrown into further chaos as his Labour Party began talks to form a government despite finishing second in last week's inconclusive election.

Mr. Brown's announcement, delivered outside No. 10 Downing St., was the centerpiece of a day of high political drama in which the U.K.'s Labour and Conservative parties engaged in an aggressive and public tug-of-war for the support of the country's No. 3 party, the Liberal Democrats.

Mr. Brown's move to step aside was packaged with his announcement that Labour has entered formal talks on a power-sharing coalition with the Liberal Democrats and their leader, Nick Clegg.

In essence, he offered himself as a sacrifice whose timing was tactically designed to both bolster Labour's improbable attempt to stay in power and block the rival Tories from taking control of Britain's government. Many Senior members of the Liberal Democrats had made it clear that they would be less inclined to a deal with a Labour Party still led by Mr. Brown.

Having won the most seats -- but not a majority -- in last week's vote, the Conservatives and leader David Cameron have spent the past few days attempting to forge an agreement in which they would run the country in a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, a party with which it shares little common ground on key issues.

After Mr. Brown made his move, the Conservatives threw down the gauntlet to the Liberal Democrats, making a fresh and seemingly final offer to Mr. Clegg's team. Senior Tory official William Hague said the Conservatives would offer a referendum to overhaul the U.K.'s voting system, a key issue for the Liberal Democrats that is strongly resisted by many Conservatives.

The resulting picture of increasing political uncertainty quickly rattled

【中文译文】

英国首相布朗(Gordon Brown)说，他将在几个月内辞去首相和工党领袖的职务。尽管工党在上周的非决定性选举中位列第二，却开始就组建政府进行谈判，英国动荡的政局随之被抛入更加混乱的局面。

布朗是在唐宁街10号首相府外宣布将辞职的消息的。他的声明成为政治形势颇具戏剧性的一天中的焦点；在这一天中，工党和保守党陷入激烈的公开争夺战，双方都在争取获得英国第三大政党自由民主党的支持。

布朗宣布辞职的同时，还宣布了工党已经与自由民主党及其领袖克莱格(Nick Clegg)就分权联盟进入正式谈判。

实际上，他把自己作为了牺牲品，这一巧妙选择的时机是为了提振工党不可能实现的继续执政的努力，同时阻挠对手保守党掌权。自由民主党的很多高级成员明确表示，他们不太愿意与仍由布朗领导的工党达成协议。

保守党在上周的投票中获得了最多席位，但不是多数席位。该党及其领袖卡梅伦(David Cameron)过去几天一直在试图与自由民主党达成协议；根据协议，保守党将与和其在关键问题上立场很少相同的自由民主党组成联合政府。

在布朗做出即将辞职的声明后，保守党向自由民主党提出一个全新的、看起来也是最后的提议。保守党高级官员海格(William Hague)说，保守党将提议进行一场全民投票，以便改革英国的投票制度，这对自由民主党来说是一个关键问题，不过很多保守党人都对此强烈反对。

不断加剧的政治不确定性迅速动摇了市场，英镑和英国国债在布朗的辞职声明后双双下跌。