Word: gaullist
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Much to Mourn. Europe had much to mourn too. France, heading toward what now promises to be a knife-edge election, could well emerge with a left wing President at odds with the Gaullist majority in the National Assembly. It would then become the latest addition to the Continent's already long list of sickly, shaky democracies. That list includes minority or coalition governments in Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and Britain...
Faltering Miracle. Few observers anywhere expect dramatic changes in French foreign policy, even if a non-Gaullist is elected. (French domestic policy is another matter entirely, especially if a leftist candidate wins.) Despite the resurgence of strident Gaullist rhetoric in recent months, Georges Pompidou was first and foremost a realist. At home the tragedy of his presidency was that he had to work almost in stealth on developing the "modern" France that he envisioned, lest he upset the orthodox Gaullist constituency to which he was chained. It was a project that he could not hope to finish. Even...
Pompidou's successor, whoever he is, may find it hard to restore the exuberant French self-confidence that was one of the great Gaullist legacies. Unless next month's elections deliver a resounding vote of confidence in Gaullism, the operative fact in European affairs is not likely to be France's willful independence but its weakness...
...determined to avoid a repetition of the unrest and riots of 1968. Until last year his approach succeeded. But then France, as the rest of the non-Communist world, was hit by soaring inflation (10.3% in 1973) that eroded real wages and led to wildcat strikes. The Gaullist candidate in the presidential elections will probably be blamed for the faltering economy, as well as a succession of untidy government scandals that the ailing Pompidou seemed unable to prevent: the illegal bugging of up to 5,000 private telephones, tax frauds and the peddling of government favors...
...With the Gaullist leadership backing Chaban, it is almost certain that Giscard-who might have been Pompidou's own choice as successor-will seek support from Gaullist liberals and other moderates. The Communists and Socialists, despite their differing views on what ought to be the next President's program, will probably unite behind Mitterrand as a joint leftist candidate...