总理安格拉.默克尔(Angela Merkel)试图以协商一致方式选出德国新总统的努力遭到挫折。此前，她的联盟伙伴社民党(SDP)提议由外长弗兰克-瓦尔特.施泰因迈尔(Frank-Walter Steinmeier)接任新总统。

　　By putting forward a top party member to succeed 76-year-old former pastor Joachim Gauck, the SPD is pushing Ms Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc to nominate a leader from its own ranks — and engage in a contested election.

　　社民党提议由本党重要成员接替76岁的前牧师约阿希姆.高克(Joachim Gauck)，将推动默克尔领导的基民盟/基社盟(CDU/CSU)联盟从己方阵营指定一名领袖人物——然后由两者竞选总统。

　　The succession hunt comes as next year’s parliamentary elections looms large on the horizon. Although the presidency is largely honorary, Ms Merkel and SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel both think that the party securing the job could benefit in the Bundestag poll, even if it is only from the kudos of winning.

　　在明年议会选举即将到来之际，总统继任角逐开始了。尽管总统主要是个名誉职位，但默克尔和社民党领导人西格马尔.加布里尔(Sigmar Gabriel)都认为，由本党人士出任总统，可能会让本党在德国联邦议院(Bundestag)选举中受益，即遍只是声望方面的胜利。

　　Ms Merkel would prefer not to rock the boat and to focus on recovering support from voters alienated by her controversial refugee policies. But Mr Gabriel, as the junior coalition partner, wants to move out of the chancellor’s shadow before the Bundestag election by picking some fights.

　　默克尔更愿意不打破现状，希望集中精力重新获得被她的争议性难民政策疏远的选民的支持。但是，加布里尔作为联盟中分量较轻的伙伴，希望通过挑起一些争斗，在联邦议院选举之前摆脱默克尔的阴影。

　　Ms Merkel originally hoped the popular Mr Gauck would stay for a second five-year term when his presidency ends in March. After Mr Gauck announced his planned retirement in the summer, she sought a conservative-social democrat consensus candidate. But soundings taken among lawyers, academics and church leaders have proved fruitless.

　　默克尔最初希望，明年3月任期结束时，颇受欢迎的高克开始第二个五年任期。在今夏高克宣布打算退休后，默克尔寻求跟保守的社民党经过协商推出候选人。但是，在律师、学者和教会领袖当中的物色没有成功。

　　Peter Tauber, CDU secretary-general, said at the weekend that he still wanted a joint candidate “who stands above party conflicts and builds bridges in society”.

　　基民盟秘书长彼得.陶贝尔(Peter Tauber)在周末表示，他仍然希望推出一位联合候选人，“此人超越了党派冲突，能为社会搭建桥梁”。

　　But Mr Gabriel announced in an interview on Monday in Bild, the top-selling newspaper, that he would back 60-year-old Mr Steinmeier because he understood “the challenges of our time”. Opinion polls regularly rate the foreign minister as Germany’s most popular politician.

　　但是，加布里尔在周一接受畅销报纸《图片报》(Bild)采访时表示，他将支持60岁的施泰因迈尔，因为此人理解“我们这个时代的挑战”。民调结果经常显示，这位外长是德国最受欢迎的政治家。

　　If the CDU/CSU puts forward a partisan choice, one favourite could be finance minister Wolfgang Sch?uble. But the tough 74-year-old campaigner would then be lost to the bloc in the parliamentary election.

　　如果基民盟/基社盟提出一名党内人选，很可能是财长沃尔夫冈.朔伊布勒(Wolfgang Sch?uble)。但是，这位74岁的强硬竞选者在议会选举中将不再属于基民盟/基社盟联盟。