REACTIONS IN U.S.

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27858, 5 January 1956, Page 9

REACTIONS IN U.S.

Dismay At Gains By Extremists

(Rec. 8 p.m.) WASHINGTON. Jan. 3. American officials studiously refrained today from making any sort of public comment on the French elections, that might further complicate the already complicated political situation there. Mr Dulles, the Secretary of State, declined to comment and the State Department’s official spokesman told reporters he doubted whether any official statement would be made.

Privately, official Washington was dismayed by the gains made by the extremists on both the Left and the Right in yesterday's French elections. Reuter’s diplomatic correspondent said.

However, the victories of the Communists as such aroused less adverse comment than those of the Right-wing Poujadists, for a number of reasons.

The Communist gains were generally attributed to the working of France's complicated electoral system and to divisions among the antiCommunist Centre parties which made that system work this time to increase Communist representation in the French National Assembly, the correspondent said. It was noted that the Communists actually won a smaller percentage of the total votes cast than in the last election of 1951.

There was therefore, no disposition to interpret the vote as a swing by the French people towards communism.

What was causing concern was the prospect of a frustrating political deadlock and of chaotic instability in France as a result of the increase in the Communist bloc and the creation of the new Poujadist bloc, the correspondent said. Therefore, he continued. American opinion would obviously react very favourably if leaders of the Centre parties attempted to bury the hatchet and to unite in the face of the crisis created by the increase in the strength of those who were basically opposed to the French Parliamentary system.