Notes
PINEAU WITHOUT THE PRINCE
Through the Socialist leader, M. Christian Pineau has agreed to try to form a new French Government, it remains to be seen whether he will be able to obtain the necessary majority in the National Assembly. His declaration that he will 'follow the methods of M. Mendes-France,' coupled with his abortive invitation to the defeated Prime Minister to join his Government, may have caused some dejection on the Right, however welcome to those members of the MRP who feel themselves uneasy over their party's drift from the Left. The opponents of M. Mendes-France must feel in any case that what they are going to get in the new Government is very much Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark, and, however high personal feelings against M. Mendes-France may have run, there are bound to be those among them who object even more strongly to the play than to the Prince. If M. Pineau tries to provide a Socialist solution to the North African prob- lem, he will arouse opposition which only the wholehearted support of the MRP could help him to overcome. Equally, his economic policy is bound to be under attack from the Right: with M. Poujade on the war-path against taxes, and elections not too far away, deputies will be sensitive to pressure-groups in the constituencies. M. Pineau has accepted as binding M. Mendes-France's promise of a wage review in April, and this will cause tremors among the clientele of many Right and Centre parliamentarians. The probable coalition of Socialists, Christian Democrats and some Radicals which appears likely to line up behind a Pineau Government would seem to depend for its durability on two major questions of policy not being posed in an acute form. On the one hand, M. Pineau, though a supporter of EDC himself, must avoid favouring 'Europeans' in his distribution of ministries (this error caused the failure of M. Pflimlin) and must seek the ratification of the Paris agreements (as he has declared his intention of doing). On the other, he must try to prevent the question of church schools becoming once again an apple of discord between his own party and the MRP. Only if he succeeds in plastering over these potential rifts will his coalition last,
Previous page
