The background to this episode was the September election, which the four-party Alliance lost after eight years in power (during which I served as Foreign Minister). The Alliance government was widely considered to have been successful; but eight years is a long time in politics.
这一事件的背景要追溯到9月的选举，当时，有四个政党组成的中右翼联盟在执政八年（我在此期间担任外交部长）后在选举中败北。中又以联盟政府被广泛认为是成功的，但在政治界，八年是一个很长的时期了。