FRANCE THINKS AGAIN
THE remarkable victory of General de Gaulle's Rassemblement du Peuple Francais at last Sunday's municipal elections has given the French Government and people a great deal to think about, and the avoidance of violence over the week-end has given them a chance to think about it. The first result has beets a recon- struction of the Cabinet to meet the rapidly changing political and economic situation. There can be little doubt that the future of the Fourth Republic is in the melting-pot, but it is also reasonable to assume that there will be no revolutionary changes for the present. It was clear all the time that, failing some popular upheaval, General de Gaulle could not formally come to power as the result of municipal elections. It should also have been clear, even if M. Malraux had not pointed it out in so many words, that the General would not accept power within the present constitution even if it were offered to him as a gift. He is opposed not only to the con- tinuous manoeuvre for office practised by the present parties, but to any constitution which makes such a system possible. Therefore he must have an amendment to the constitution, which means a referendum to the French people. But so far the General has not asked for a referendum. He has not even outlined the programme of his Rally. In fact he sticks to his old line. He behaves as if it is only necessary for him to stand still and wait while the parties run round in circles until they finally fall down of their own accord.
He may be right. M. Ramadier's attempt to steer a straight course through economic chaos has been determined ; but it seems destined to fail. Inflation has not stopped, there is a suspicion that the recent strike on the Paris Metro was only ended through the capitulation of the Government, and the threat of a general strike has not been removed. On the political side the Government is further weakened by the fact that one of the members of the coali- tion, the M.R.P., having lost most of its supporters to the R.P.F. last Sunday, has now decided to reconsider its whole position in the Chamber. It may in fact be on its last legs. The prospect is dark, but it is not hopeless. The argument that the collapse of the centre would lead to a straight fight to the death between Communism and Fastism must be put in its place. It is a Communist-inspired myth. General de Gaulle is no Fascist, and most French Com- munists are Frenchmen first and ideological fanatics a very bad ,second. And if weariness with party shifts counts for anything even the possibility of two party system, with an elected Government and an accepted Opposition on the British model, cannot be ruled out. Nor is the economic plight of France as bad as it looks, for beneath the surface of faulty distribution and lack of controls there is a firm stratum of relative plenty. But whether the end is good or bad, France is destined to have little peace for the next few years.
