French poll puts down Gaullists

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33527, 7 May 1974, Page 17

French poll puts down Gaullists

Oi'.Z P.A-Reuter—Copyright)

PARIS, May 6.

The Socialist candidate, Mr Francois Mitterrand, and the Conservative candidate, Mr Valery Giscard D’Estaing, will now contest the French Presidency after voters delivered a stunning rebuff to the Gaullists in the first round of the elections yesterday.

Mr Mitterrand and Mr Giscard D’Estaing, who provide the French people with a stark choice between Left and Right, qualified for a two-man run-off on May 19 by easily outstripping all opposition.

Mr Mitterrand topped ' the first-round poll as expected, but his level of J support — just over 43 1 per cent — was seen as a slight set-back to his chances of ultimate victory. Mr Giscard d’Estaing, Fin- : ance Minister and leader of < the Gaullist-allied Indepen- 1 dent Republicans, seemed 1 more pleased with his share 1 of the vote, about 33 per cent, and now appears to 1 have an edge in the Presi- 1 dential race. i In a record turn-out of 26 1 million voters, the French ’ underlined their wish for a change after 16 years of i Gaullist rule by' over- 1

whelmingly rejecting the former Prime Minister, Mr Jacques Chaban-Delmas. He came in a distant third, with less than 15 per cent of the vote. Honours even Mr Mitterrand, aged 57 and Mr Giscard d’Estaing, aged 48, are both expert debaters, and one of the keys to the election will be how they fare in nationally televised debates. They held two debates in the first round — in which honours were about even — but these had less impact because they were not televised. Mr Mitterrand is virtually certain of picking up almost three per cent more votes:

from those who cast their first-round votes for fringe candidates on the extreme Left. Among these, Miss Arlette Laguiller, the only woman among the 12 candidates in the first round, polled almost 2.5 per cent. On the other hand, Mr Giscard d’Estaing is likely to pick up support among those who voted in the first round for the Conservative, Mr Jean Royer, a champion of small businessmen. Mr Royer polled about three per cent. Well short Most of Mr ChabanDelmas’s support now is expected to swing behind Mr Giscard d’Estaing as the Gaullists and other parties hostile to Mr Mitterrand seek to block a Left-wing victory. In the view of most political observers, Mr Mitterrand needed to poll 45 per cent or more of the first round vote to prove he had the better chance of winning the run-off. Mr Mitterrand, with the support of most Left-wing and non-Gaullist voters, had I seemed to have a chance of winning the Presidency outright in the first round—but he fell well short of the absolute majority needed. In spite of the slight air of disappointment in the Mitterrand camp, the election is almost certain to be very close, and to be decided by a few floating voters in the centre. Reversal The polarisation of votes to the traditional Left and Right marked a turning point in French politics after a period of almost two decades in which the party built around the late President de Gaulle has been allpowerful. The Gaullists have always been hard to define politically. They represent General de Gaulle’s firm views on national independence and stable institutions, and they embrace various shades of political opinion from the moderate Left to the far Right.