M. Mendes-France came into power in a moral crisis that
affected the whole nation after a major defeat. He has gone out of power in a crisis of politicians. It is their anxiety—and that of the French settlers in North Africa—that produced the majority in the Assembly which drove him out of office. He has not been defeated by any insistent demand of public opinion that he should go. Though certainly less popular than when he came to power, he still probably enjoys a good deal more favour with public opinion than any other politician. Indeed the choice of M. Pinay as the first candidate for his succession is in part a tribute to this, for M. Pinay, like M. Mendes-France, established when in office a contact with the man in the street which few French politicians achieve. It is also noteworthy that the more hostile commentators on M. Mendes-France's period in office concentrate on the inadequacies of his parliamentary tactics and on his ill-judged breach with tradition in addressing the Assembly after the adverse vote. They cannot dispute that he achieved more and made a bigger impression on opinion at home and abroad than his predecessors. His opponents, especially those in MRP, have scarcely time to enjoy their relief at his departure, for it is up to them now to continue the negotiations with Tunisia. to have the courage to face the problem of North Africa, to accept their responsibilities with regard to the Paris agree- ment. It is not likely that the opportunity which M. Mendes- France made rather than grasped in North Africa will recur, or that more can be saved from the wreck of European hopes than he was offering. The MRP have involved themselves much more deeply with the Right than most of them ever intended and their efforts to escape from the entanglements of their own making, gravely complicate the problem of creat- ing a new government. They have now refused to serve under M. Pinay. The formula in favour at the moment is that of 'appeasement' but in fact insistent problems demand a decision. M. Mendes-France had still 273 votes to support him in his immediate task. The policies of his opponents vary from that of the Communists to that of the extreme Right. It will be very difficult to bring together as many votes as M. Mendes-France's minority behind any other decisive policy.
Previous page
