Word: fabius
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...Tjibaou declared that his party would be content with nothing less than complete sovereignty. The caldoches continue to argue that the Pisani plan would lead to a Kanak takeover. Pisani declared a state of emergency throughout the territory, including a dawn-to-dusk curfew. In Paris, where Premier Laurent Fabius dispatched 1,000 fresh troops to New Caledonia, a political uproar was brewing. Right-wing opponents of President Francois Mitterrand's Socialist government joined the island's French community in denouncing the Pisani plan...
...President's TV defense overshadowed Premier Laurent Fabius' ringing final admonition to the Socialist convention, in which he declared: "It is absolutely essential to avoid turning back, to avoid the reaction sought by the right, which would bring this country economic traumas and social shocks." Fabius asked, "Does this country really want the right to come back?" To stir combative Socialist spirits, the Premier challenged two of the opposition leaders, Neo-Gaullist Paris Mayor Jacques Chirac and center-right former Premier Raymond Barre, to television debates. Both declined. With a semblance of party unity restored, delegates could agree...
Under the French system, however, the political heat of unpopular decisions falls largely on the Premier; hence Fabius remained the golden boy of the Socialist team. Although political analysts knew that Mauroy's days were numbered, most assumed that he would remain in place through the fall to act as a lightning rod for attacks on the tightfisted 1985 budget. But the left's dismal showing in the European elections forced Mitterrand to act. A fortnight ago, he withdrew his controversial legislation to bring the country's private schools under greater state control and announced that...
Initial reactions to Fabius' appointment were mixed. Said Bernard Pons, secretary-general of the neo-Gaullist party: "The Communists have just said today, down to the last comma, what we have been repeating for three years: the government's economic and industrial policy is a failure." But in a backhanded compliment to Fabius, Republican Party Leader François Leotard noted that Mitterrand had chosen "one of the best. We must not underestimate our adversary...
...were caught more off balance than the Communists, who have long criticized the government not only on economic affairs but also over foreign issues like Mitterrand's support for NATO's plan to deploy intermediate-range missiles in Western Europe. After learning of Fabius' appointment, members of the party politburo met in emergency session at the Communists' fortress-like glass-and-steel headquarters. Despite three hours of deliberation, they were unable to agree on how to react. The indecision continued even after Party Leader Georges Marchais had hastily returned from his vaca tion on the beaches...