弗里德里希·默尔茨总理承诺，将在今年力推备受争议的养老金改革法案。就在一天前，其劳工部长宣布辞职，使得本就摇摇欲坠的政府局势更加动荡。
Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised to push ahead this year with a disputed pension reform bill one day after his labor minister resigned, further destabilizing an already-fragile government.
“我们确实需要一场大规模改革，”默尔茨周二在柏林的一场活动上对商界领袖们说道。
“We really need a big reform,” Merz told business leaders at an event in Berlin on Tuesday.
这位保守派领导人表示，他将要求新任劳工部长亚历山大·施魏策尔在年底前向内阁及议会提交新的改革方案，力争在2027年正式通过相关立法。施魏策尔将接替贝尔贝尔·巴斯——许多保守派人士认为她是推行深度社会改革的主要阻碍。
The conservative leader said he will ask the new labor minister, Alexander Schweitzer, to get a fresh proposal to the cabinet and parliament by year-end, with the goal of approving the legislation in 2027. Schweitzer is replacing Baerbel Bas, who many conservatives saw as the main hurdle to far-reaching social reforms.
“从今天下午起，我们将有一位新部长负责这项工作，”默尔茨说道，“我希望他能迅速着手开展工作。”他还补充道：“我有信心该法案明年必定能够正式生效。”巴斯于周一宣布辞职，同时也辞去了社民党联合主席一职，而社民党正是默尔茨领导的联合政府中的次要合作伙伴。此次辞职源于她家中一位至亲离世；与此同时，社民党方面指责默尔茨所在的基民盟在这一艰难时刻对巴斯发起无端攻击。
“We now have a new minister in office who will be responsible for this from this afternoon,” Merz said. “I would like to encourage him to get to work quickly.”He added: “I am confident that we will definitely have it in force by next year.”Bas announced her resignation on Monday, also stepping down as co-leader of the Social Democrats, the junior partner in Merz’s government. She left following the death of a close family member and as Social Democrats accused Merz’s Christian Democrats of unfairly attacking Bas during the difficult period.
巴斯的辞职进一步加剧了默尔茨领导的这个两党联合政府的紧张局势。默尔茨坚称自己并未对巴斯进行人身攻击，其与巴斯之间的分歧纯属事实层面的争议。
Her resignation added tensions to Merz’s already unstable two-party government. Merz has denied any personal attacks on Bas and said his conflict with the SPD minister was purely factual.
在巴斯任职期间，商界对这位58岁的女性并不买账。去年，巴斯在一次演讲中声称为养老金体系追加预算并不会给企业带来额外负担，此言一出，在场的企业代表们纷纷哄笑起来。
The business community didn’t warm to the 58-year-old Bas during her time in office. Last year, employers publicly laughed when Bas claimed during a speech that additional budget payments for the pension system wouldn’t create extra costs for employers.
现年53岁的施魏策尔曾是莱茵兰-普法尔茨州的社民党领导人，他将于周二下午正式宣誓就任劳工部长。此前，施魏策尔曾多次批评政府取消“工作满45年即可提前退休”这一政策的计划。
The 53-year-old Schweitzer, a former SPD state leader of Rhineland Palatinate, will be sworn in as labor minister on Tuesday afternoon. In the past, Schweitzer has repeatedly criticized the government’s plan to end the possibility of early retirement after 45 years of work.
不过，默尔茨明确表达了他对新任社民党劳工部部长的期望：尽快将相关法案提交内阁审议。
Merz, however, made clear what he expects from the new SPD labor minister: Get legislation “to the cabinet as soon as possible.”
他补充道，如果今年就能完成这一任务，“那他就算完成了本职工作”。这一表态再次凸显了默尔茨的坚定立场——尽管政府内部存在分歧、党内阻力重重且民意支持率持续下滑，他仍决心继续留任。
If that is done this year, Merz added, “then he has done his job.”The push emphasized Merz’s ongoing insistence that he will stay in office, despite friction within his government, pushback within his party and sagging poll numbers.
“我正处于这场冲突的核心，”他说道，“若我不卷入其中，我的支持率或许会更高。我并无意成为民众的宠儿，但一定要带领国家走上正轨。”
“I’m right in the middle of this conflict,” he said. “If I weren’t involved in this conflict, my poll numbers would be better. I have no intention of becoming the nation’s darling, but I intend to put this country on the right track.”