De Gaulle’s Election Virtually Certain

Manawatu Times, Volume 70, Issue 269, 14 November 1945, Page 7

De Gaulle’s Election Virtually Certain

Received Tuesday, 8.10 p.m. LONDON, Nov. 12. The French Socialist Party decided to ask the Communists to state definitely whether they will vote for General de Gaulle when the French Constituent Assembly meets tomorrow to elect the head of the new Government, reports Reuter’s Paris correspondent. A delegation headed by the Secre-tary-General of the Socialist Party, M. Daniel Mayer, called on the Communist Party and presented a letter in which the Socialists asked: “Do you intend to vote for General de Gaulle tomorrow? If he refuses the post, for whom will you vote?” It was generally believed that the Communist Party would, at the last minute, decide to come into a National Government under General de Gaulle. The French Communists told the Socialists that they would support General de Gaulle at tomorrow’s election. This makes the election of the general as head of the State virtually certain. The secretary-general of the Communist Party (M. Duclos) replying to the Socialist Party’s letter, said: “The Communist Party will not oppose a demonstration of national unanimity around the person of General de Gaulle, whose position was determined at the general election.”'