One of Germany’s leading conservatives has backed the prospect of a fresh “grand coalition” to break the post-election deadlock ahead of negotiations in which Angela Merkel will seek to extend her 12-year rule.

在安格拉•默克尔(Angela Merkel)寻求延长12年任期的谈判前夕，德国主要保守派人物之一支持组建新的“大联合”政府来打破大选后僵局。

Horst Seehofer, head of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Ms Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that a grand coalition of the centre-left and centre-right was “the best option for Germany”.

默克尔的基民盟(CDU)在巴伐利亚州的姐妹党基社盟(CSU)的领导人霍斯特•泽霍费尔(Horst Seehofer)向《周日图片报》(Bild am Sonntag)表示，由中左翼和中右翼组成大联合政府是“德国的最佳选择”。

With the uncertainty in Berlin hanging over Europe as it grapples with Brexit and attempts to reform the eurozone, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) last week abandoned their refusal to consider recreating the grand coalition that governed Germany for the past four years.

在柏林的不确定性笼罩着正在艰难应对英国退欧和欧元区改革尝试的欧洲之际，上周中左翼的社民党(SPD)放弃了该党拒绝考虑组建大联合政府的决定。过去四年一直是大联合政府在德国主政。

Mr Seehofer said the SPD, which suffered its worst result since the mid-20th century in September’s election, should “remain realistic” in its demands. Senior SPD figures are calling for stronger measures protecting part-time workers and the abolition of private health insurance.

泽霍费尔表示，社民党(该党在9月选举中遭遇了自20世纪中叶以来最糟糕的结果)在它的要求上应该“切合实际”。社民党高层人物呼吁加强措施保护兼职劳动者，并废止私人医保。

However, another of the SPD’s central positions looks likely to be an obstacle for any deal — its opposition to a cap on refugee numbers. In October, Mr Seehofer secured a commitment to a cap of 200,000 refugees a year in post-election talks with Ms Merkel’s that resolved a rift within the conservative bloc over asylum policy.

然而，社民党的另一个核心立场——反对为难民人数设置上限——看起来可能是达成组阁协议的障碍。10月，泽霍费尔在选举后与默克尔的基民盟谈判后，争取到了每年收容难民不超过20万的上限承诺，解决了保守派阵营围绕庇护政策的分歧。