Word: mitterrand
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...Mitterrand's Socialists are divided and dispirited...
...exchange well illustrated the divisions that have grown in France's ruling Socialist Party after three years in power. Agriculture Minister Michel Rocard stunned the 700 delegates at the party's annual convention held outside Paris last week by sharply criticizing the administration of Socialist President Francois Mitterrand for having allowed "a serious breach to develop between the government and the country." A centrist and longtime Mitterrand rival, Rocard called on the party to "broaden its appeal to the whole of the country." Party Secretary Lionel Jospin was quick to reply next morning. He was shocked, he said...
With parliamentary elections less than 18 months away, Mitterrand's Socialist Party is clearly in a deep malaise. In 65 local races over the past two years and in the European Parliament elections last June, voters have registered a dramatic loss of confidence in the Socialist government and, consequently, considerable support has swung to the right-wing opposition. Opinion polls show that if legislative elections were held today, the Socialists would lose, with only about 23% of the vote, which is less than the 27% they claim as their traditional electoral base. Ever since the Communists shattered Mitterrand...
Neither the party nor the country has been able to digest easily Mitterrand's switch in June 1982, from a big-spending economic policy to the current tough austerity program that has reduced inflation to 7% while leaving a record 10.1% French workers unemployed. To many left-wing voters, Mitterrand's about-face seemed a betrayal of Socialist promises and ideals, and was all the more bewildering because the government continued to maintain that its fundamental goals remained unchanged. At the party convention, the debate raged over whether the Socialists should, for example, continue to stress traditional themes...
Adding to its self-doubt, the party now faces a threat on an unexpected front: Mitterrand's conduct of foreign affairs. A strong supporter of NATO, an advocate of European cooperation and a defender of France's traditional role in Africa and the Third World, Mitterrand had won at least tacit support for his policies even among his detractors. No longer...