Decline of Gaullism

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27036, 11 May 1953, Page 8

Decline of Gaullism

It was the French municipal elections of six years ago that introduced General • de Gaulle s Rally of the French People as a political force to be reckoned with. The R.P.F. then won 40 per cent of the total votes, which made it the most popular party in France. Six years later the party’s support has ebbed to a low level in spite of efforts to enter into electoral alliances that it refused in the past. This decline is probably due not to any decline in the prestige of General de Gaulle himself, or even to any lack of sympathy with the basic ideas of his party, but to their refusal for too long to play a responsible part in French politics. General de Gaulle’s view was that the French constitution needed overhaul (which it does) and that it was so bad that the whole system would collapse (perhaps with a little help from the R.P.F. and the Communists), when he and his party would emerge from the wings and restore order. In the event his country has been waiting six years for the collapse, which has not come. There has been a chronic instability of government; but that is no new thing for the French people. Under the pressure of practical politics it is not French government that has started to disintegrate but the R.P.F. The breakaway began in the party when roughly a quarter of its members in the Assembly broke the ruling against allying themselves with a coalition and made possible the establishment of Mr Pinay*s Government a year ago, when a breakdown in the sequence of coalitions seemed likely. Significantly the next departure from the party’s old line came from the party as a whole, when its leader (Mr Soustelle) tried to form a coalition government with himself at the head after the defeat of Mr Pinay’s Ministry. Mr Soustelle, in effect, admitted that his party was at last prepared to try to make the best of the constitution, though some of his conditions made his leadership unacceptable. The results of the recent municipal elections suggest that for the French this willingness to face reality and make the best of it has come too late. General de Gaulle, by his decision that the movement

will no longer contest elections or continue as an organised Parliamentary party, has accepted this verdict of his countrymen. In contrast with the decline of the R.P.F. is the growing importance of Mr Pinay, who has shovhi himself both resourceful and popular, particularly among the conservative sections of the French electorate. He has apparently won for his Independents and the Radicals much of the support that General de Gaulle might have counted on for the R.P.F. Although Mr Pinay is now out of office he has behind him a record of good government. He performed no miracles, unless to hold office for 10 months and arrest a threatened decline in the French economy could be accounted one. When he took office the treasury was empty, the budget was undecided, confidence in the franc was slipping, and the balance of foreign trade was deteriorating. He was able to do as much as he did because he was able 'to inspire confidence among the businessmen and small property owners, whose personal behaviour has much to do with the financial health of their country. In or out of office Mr Pinay is a much bigger man in French politics than he was a year ago.

It was generally thought that the municipal elections would show that the Communist Party, like the R.P.F., was declining in popular favour. There have been many signs of Communist difficulties and internal dissensions such as the disciplining of Messrs Marty and Tillon and a rebuke to Mr Picasso. The results, however, suggest that the Communist Party, in spite of its small and falling membership, can still draw out the voters in fairly large numbers. However, the party will lose some of its effectiveness now that the R.P.F. is both weaker and more ready to co-operate with the parties that have consistently shown their belief in the principles of a parliamentary democracy.