DE GAULLE WINS

Evening Star, Issue 25621, 23 October 1945, Page 5

DE GAULLE WINS

THE FRENCH ELECTIONS

POLICY FULLY ENDORSED ((Rec. noon.) LONDON, October 22. The combination of Socialist and Catholic Left parties, which are supporting General de Gaulle, will have a substantial majority over ' the Communists, and will overshadow all the “ splinter ” parties in the new French Constituent Assembly. General de Gaulle’s policy has been fully supported. The French approved his referendum proposals, also returned all except one of the Ministers in his Cabinet. The Minister of Transport, M. Mayer, was the single failure. The Catholic Left, which, under the name Mouvement Republicaine Populate, grew out of the resistance movement. It was closely aligned with General de Gaulle by M. Bidault, and went to the polls with a promise to vote with the Socialists on all matters except religion. The voting on the referendum issues was never in doubt after the first counts. It is clear that the French General Elections were a victory for General de Gaulle. The Ministry of the Interior estimated that 85 per cent, of the electorate went to the polls, with the biggest vote in the history of France. The Radicals seem to have been almost completely wiped out, and even the election of the former Premier, M. Herriot, who is the leader of the Radical Socialists, appears doubtful. Among those elected are the Minister of War (M. Diethelm), the Minister of the Interior (M. Tixier), the Minister of the Navy (M. Jacquinot),

and the Minister of Food (M. Pineau). M. Daladier was also elected for Avignon. He waged a difficult campaign under a hail of tomatoes, cabbages, and rotten eggs. The latest official figures in the referendum are : For a single Assembly ... 13,887,072 Against '. 554,750 Altogether 9.552.210 voted in favour of General de Gaulle’s proposals fpr a Chamber, and 4,841,249 against. The state of the parties is:— Communists ... 151 Catholic Left 142 Socialists ... ... ... ... 139 Right Wingers 40 Independents 40 Radicals - 19