Mitterrand to call French back to the polls

Press, 12 May 1981, Page 8

Mitterrand to call French back to the polls

NZPA-Reuter Paris The socialist Francois Mitterrand has ended 23 years of Centre-Right rule to become the new French President; and now he will pitch the country into another electoral battle to seek a Left-wing majority in Parliament.

The Communist-backed Mr Mitterrand, aged 64, wiped out his reputation as a polls loser, beating the incumbent Valery Giscard d’Estaing by more than one million votes in Sunday’s run-off poll, as the nation swung sharply to the Left giving him a victory that opened a new political era in France.

The win, his third bid at the presidency in 15 years, made him the nation’s first socialist Head of State with full executive powers to have been elected by universal suffrage. He took 52 per cent of the poll compared with nearly 48 per cent for Mr Giscard.

Tens of thousands of young, jubilant Left-wing supporters packed the streets of Paris and other big cities in all-night song and dance festivities to celebrate what the Communist daily “L’Humanite” called “the victory of hope.” Although Mr Mitterrand was officially the socialist candidate, gaining 26 per cent of the vote on the first ballot two weeks ago, he went into his duel with Mr Giscard with the backing of the entire Left-wing splinter groups. He came to power with the support of an estimated four million Communist voters.

Now, facing a National Assembly dominated by supporters of Mr Giscard and the neo-Gaullist leader, Jacques Chirac, he has opted for an immediate dissolution on the hope of winning a Left-wing majority. Mr Mitterrand, an often austere figure who during this presidential campaign has relaxed to the extent of'

directing shafts of wit at his adversaries, is not due to take possession of the Elysee Palace until May 25 or 26.

But in recent weeks he has made it clear that his first Executive act after naming a Prime Minister .will be to dissolve Parliament and call the French back to the polls for a two-round General Election, probably on June 21 and 28.

The last days of the campaign saw strong warnings from Mr Giscard and Mr Chirac that Mr Mitterrand could only rule with the Communists who have constantly demanded Ministerial posts in his Government, Yet Mr Mitterrand, 11 times Minister under successive Fourth Republic governments in the 1940 s and 19505, never accepted his rivals’ assertions that he was a prisoner of the Communists, who have been excluded from power since 1947. Throughout the campaign he maintained that until the Communist Party loosened its ties with Moscow, particularly in foreign policy, it had no chance of obtaining Ministerial posts. The electorate appears to have been less swayed by any “red scare" than by the bread-and-butter issues of employment and inflation, both of which have seriously deteriorated during Mr Giscard’s seven-year term of office.

Sunday night’s result was seen by many political analysts as a personal disavowal of the outgoing president and his cold, aloof manner.

Significantly, Mr Giscard trailed Mr Mitterrand even in the Puy Dea Dome region of central France, which he represented in Parliament from the 19505.

Most analysts expected Mr Mitterrand, although elected with the aid of mass Communist support, to steer a course closer to traditional West European social democracy.

At home his programme includes the nationalisation of 11 main industrial and banking groups as well as raising the national minimum wage and family allowances and negotiating a reduction of the working week from 40 to 35 hours.

As part of his plan to ease unemployment, Mr Mitterrand proposed the creation of 210,000 public sector jobs, mainly in schools and hospitals.

Leftist parties around the world yesterday hailed his election. But the United States and Soviet Union greeted the news with wary reserve.

The Portuguese socialist leader, Mario Soares, called Mr Mitterrand’s win “an historic moment, not only for France, but for the world.” The British Labour Party leader, Michael Foot, said it was “a great victory for socialism and peace.” Their Italian counterpart, Bettino Craxi, said the results in France were a victory "for all European socialists at a time when a conservative wave is sweeping through the ' Western World.”

But in Washington, pushed toward the Right by November’s election of President Ronald Reagan, American officials barely concealed their surprise and concern over the Leftist victory in France. Neither the White House nor State Department had any immediate comment, but American television commentators expressed worry over what role the Communists would play in the new Government.

Senator Charles Percy, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, went so far as to suggest that Washington could nc longer count on French support if, for example, the Soviets intervened militarily in Poland.