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Catch Phrase| 悬浮议会(xuánfú yìhuì)

Writer:   | Editor: Stephanie Yang  | From:  | Updated: 2017-06-12

Meaning:

“悬浮” means “hovering,” and “议会” is “parliament.” Translated from the English term “hung parliament,” it is an expression used to describe a state of a parliament when no single political party (or bloc of allied parties) has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament. It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control. If the legislature is bicameral, and the government is responsible only to the lower house, then “hung parliament” is used only with respect to that chamber.

Example:

A: 真没想到,英国大选产生了悬浮议会。接下来会怎么样?

Zhēn méi xiǎngdào, yīngguó dàxuǎn chǎnshēng le xuánfú yìhuì。Jiēxiàlái huì zěnme yàng?

What a surprise! The U.K. national election has ended in a hung parliament. What’s next?

B: 梅的保守党获席位最多,还是第一大党,尽管没拿到绝大多数选票,但还有先机成功组阁。

Méi de bǎoshǒudǎng huò xíwèi zuì duō, háishì dìyī dà dǎng, jìnguǎn méi nádào juédà duōshù xuǎnpiào, dàn háiyǒu xiānjī chénggōng zǔgé。

As May’s Conservative Party received the highest number of seats and is the largest party, it gets the first crack at forming a government despite not having won a majority.

(First editor: Debra Li)