THE FRENCH ELECTIONS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25958, 26 September 1945, Page 4

THE FRENCH ELECTIONS

The chief foreign interest in the elections that are now being held in France lies in the indication they give of the present temper of the French people. The early results seem to reveal that there has been a swing to the Left. This, broadly speaking, is not unexpected since it is in line with political trends throughout Europe, but at the same time appearances may be misleading. There have been pointed illustrations in recent international conferences of the danger of loose references to political terms. To the foreigner, French politics are notoriously difficult of comprehension and the present array of party cleavages and non-party alliances has not made them more intelligible. It is from the extreme Left and the Right of»French politics that the criticism of Great Britain chiefly comes, but that leaves the great central elements with which negotiations for French-British relationships can be carried on. It is really in these central elements—or, more accurately, in certain of them —that the confidence of the people has been expressed. Since the Algiers conferences, General de Gaulle’s most constant and statesmanlike suppoi’ters have been members of the Socialist Party. Although motives differ in subsidiary groups, there is agreement with regard to the necessity of his continued leadership, and the party as a whole entertains the belief that the unity which his leadership gives to the country is important as long as the Government’s policy is not too far at variance with its doctrine. It has been noticeable that General de Gaulle has been responsive and conciliatory to these elements, in marked contrast to the aggressiveness which opposition usually provokes in him. This furnishes an indication that there is still sufficient solidarity on the People’s Front to make it a potentially formidable opposition, the more so since it attracts the Radicals by its anticlerical attitude, and also the Communists who have exhibited in other directions their willingness to play down extreme elements in the hope of winning positions and power. Throughout the whole alignment of French politics the issue whether to work for power or to pursue the party’s programme is the line along which the main cleavage runs. It can, and does, produce strange bedfellows. The French Right is described by observers as amorphous. It is tainted to some extent by association with collaboration and with Vichy, but it still retains a good deal of its former wealth and influence. There is only one welldeveloped party, but it stands on its own, uncompromising concerning the freedom of private enterprise, the reduction of State controls, and a return to the Constitution of 1875. The remaining strong element in French politics belongs to the central group. This is the Socialist-Radical Party, with which M. Daladier and M. Herriot are associated. It is comprised of right-ist elements of the Left, and left-ist elements of the Right. Its attitude is oppor-

tunist, with a unifying force in common distaste for General de Gaulle’s forceful personal leadership. Its strength is drawn largely from the small traders and independent peasantry of rural France. While the present indication suggests a movement slightly to the left of the centre, the whole position is liable to be changed overnight according to General de Gaulle’s attitude respecting the Constitution. Compromise would seem to, be the deciding factor in future developments.