Word: socialists
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...second stake was the role of the Communist Party (C.P.). It had been in a political ghetto since 1947. In order to come out of it, its strategy, for many years, has been the formation of a Popular Front with the Socialists and the small Left Radicals. The Common Program of 1972 marked the first success of this strategy. But it was signed, not by the old and decrepit Socialist Party of the Fourth Republic, but by a vigorous new Socialist Party taken over by a cunning politician, Francois Mitterrand...
...most important problems faced by France are those which the more statesmanlike Socialist leaders such as Michel Rocard have raised: debureaucratization, the opening up of elite and educational castes, the reorganization of French industry (threatened by outside competition and often kept alive only by state subsidies), a fairer tax and social security system, greater participation by workers in management, and by citizens in local government...
Three, the razor-thin margin of victory confirms President Giscard d'Estaing's intuition about the need above all to enlarge the Majority by a reformist course that would attract voters from the Left, and perhaps even the Socialist Party itself some day. But Chirac opposes this strategy, which, if it succeeded, would dilute Gaullist influence in the Majority; and while the Gaullists no longer dominate it, as they had since 1962, they still have just over half of its seats...
Many analysts, including some Socialists, thought it was Mitterrand himself who had frightened undecided voters by his last-minute surrender to Marchais on the issue of how many ministries the Communists would control in the event of a leftist victory. In exchange for Marchais's backing of Socialist candidates in the runoff elections March 19, Mitterrand had agreed to reward the Communists with as many as half of the Cabinet ministries. At that time, Gaston Defferre, the Socialist mayor of Marseille, issued a grave warning to Mitterrand: "Better to lose than give anything to the Communists." Taking a contrary...
...Mitterrand's attempt to link his personal ambitions to the Communists now renders his political future highly precarious. Moreover, Mitterrand's capitulation to Marchais has made a mockery of his much-touted ability to keep the Communists under control. Last week there was talk that the Socialist leader, now 61, might be headed for retirement. Still, in his 32-year political career, he has frequently exhibited a talent, reminiscent of Richard Nixon's, for bouncing back from defeat. But even if Mitterrand should survive as his party's leader, he remains an improbable candidate for cohabitation...