The French Political Shake-up
General de Gaulle has lately been both an asset and a liability to the M.R.P., the largest party in France. On the one hand, the widespread impression that he was closer to that party than to any other undoubtedly gained it numbers of votes from those many Frenchmen to whom de Gaulle is an embodiment of solidity and honour. On the other hand, the same impression brought upon the M.R.P. the suspicion, and occasionally the fury, of the Com- munists and Socialists, its fellows in the coalition, to whom the General's appeal to the political Right has always appeared a danger, De Gaulle, for his part, has been absolutely consistent. He has never, by the merest flicker of an eyelid, given any party cause to hope for his exclusive support. He has continually professed his belief in the fundamental French desire for stability, and in par- ticular for a constitution providing for a strong executive, not bound by the continual shifts of the parties. The whole issue has now come to a head. A new draft constitution is about to appear, and the M.R.P. are making it increasingly plain that their own support will be directed away from General de Gaulle's known ideas and towards the ideas of the Communists and Socialists. At the same time there has appeared a new party calling itself the Union Gaulliste, which will get its chance to show its strength in the forthcoming referendum on the constitution and the subsequent election of a new and permanent Assembly. It is certain to capture some votes from the M.R.P. Whether General de Gaulle will be inconsistent for the first time and ally himself with it is much more doubtful. Such an alliance could hardly last long.
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