With hindsight I should have seen it coming. My question to Helmut Kohl was pretty straightforward: how healthy was it for a democracy to have one party with one leader seemingly hell-bent on staying in power forever? The location was a stuffy barn in the grounds of a dreamy priory in Bavaria where the grandees of Germany’s ruling centre-right parties had gathered to agree an electoral pact for an unprecedented fifth term in office. I had recently broken my collarbone, so my arm was in a sling. And it was this that gave the German chancellor the ammunition for a gruff, quick-witted response: “Looking at you I’d say that you’re the one with the health issues round here.” Cue laughter and one red-faced young correspondent.
事后看来，我本该预见到这种结果的。我提给赫尔穆特•科尔(Helmut Kohl)的问题相当直接：一个政党的领导人似乎执意永远掌权，对于一个民主国家而言是否健康？采访地点是在巴伐利亚州一个梦幻般的修道院庭院上一个装满粮食的谷仓，德国执政的中右翼政党的重要人物齐聚在这里，就史无前例的第五任任期的选举协议达成一致。我当时弄伤了锁骨，因此我的胳膊跨在胸前。这给这位德国总理做出不客气但睿智的回应提供了口实：“看着你，我想说，你才是那个有健康问题的人。”此言引发众人大笑，还有一个脸红的年轻记者。