The General strikes back
Those who imagined that with the election of an unassailable Gaullist majority the post-de Gaulle era had begun and that the General himself would soon withdraw in favour of the 'dauphin' Pompidou have been swiftly disabused. In May, the General sought to take over the revolution. But it was the counter-revolutionaries, led by M Pom- pidou, who won. So de Gaulle has sacked the victor.
M Pompidou may yet succeed the General : and that is obviously his intention. But, equally obviously, it is not the General's intention. The appointment of M Couve de Murville as Prime Minister of France can only mean that the President intends to re- verse the settlement of May regardless of parliamentary opposition. In May M Pom- pidou set the franc at risk to save the social order. It will be M Couve de Murville's task now to save the franc and change the social order.
There are therefore stormy times ahead. Deflationary economic policies coming on top of the massive increase in wage costs resulting from the strike settlement can only lead to a sharp increase in unemployment and a fall in industrial investment. This in turn will be accentuated by anxieties pro- voked by the President's plans for worker- participation in management, which he will now presumably try and drive through re- gardless of parliamentary and industrial opposition.
General de Gaulle may well be right in be- lieving that the strikers were out for a better status as much as for a massive increase in wages, But if the price of a better status is now to be that many more will lose their jobs the troubles in May could pale into insignifi- cance by comparison with the next round. And next time the government is likely to find itself opposed by a formidable body of its erstwhile supporters led by M Pompidou and M Giscard d'Estaing in close alliance.
The outcome of the struggle cannot be pre- dicted. General de Gaulle may be broken. But he is most unlikely to bend.
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