France a Marriage of Convenience

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Jacques Chirac was all smiles last week as he addressed a nationwide television audience from the reception chamber of Paris' grandiose, 19th century city hall. As mayor of Paris and the outspoken leader of the conservative Rally for the Republic party, Chirac only hours before had been named Premier by Socialist President Francois Mitterrand. For the first time in the 28-year history of the Fifth Republic, the nation's President was forced to preside over a government formed by a political rival and ideological foe. "The French must understand," Chirac declared, "that the moment has come to put an end to divisions and to rally together in a spirit of mutual tolerance for the renewal of our country."

Moments after he spoke, a bomb exploded in a crowded shopping arcade on the Champs Elysees in the center of Paris, apparently the work of Arab terrorists. Two people were killed and 28 others were wounded in the blast, which virtually guaranteed that the first task facing Chirac will be the fight against terrorism. At week's end a rash of bomb hoaxes swept Paris, causing thousands of people to be evacuated from buildings and a train while police searched for explosives.

The latest tragedy marked an inauspicious beginning to the country's historic experiment in what the French call cohabitation. This refers to the power sharing that will now ensue between Mitterrand and France's resurgent conservatives, led by Chirac's neo-Gaullist R.P.R. and former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing's Union for French Democracy. At the outset, some observers feared that the odd coupling, a direct result of the March 16 parliamentary elections that gave the conservative coalition a narrow parliamentary majority, would produce only paralysis and instability. To others, it promised to usher in a new age of pragmatism, cooperation and maturity in French politics.

The first fruits of the union came last week as Mitterrand approved Chirac's selection of a new Cabinet after 48 hours of intense negotiations. Thirteen of the ministerial appointments were filled by Chirac associates, and nine went to representatives of Giscard's U.D.F., the second-largest conservative faction. As the new Cabinet took office, outgoing Premier Laurent Fabius formally submitted his government's resignation and used the occasion for a touch of political prophecy. Said he: "We will be back."

Despite having to step down from power, Mitterrand's men were clearly among the victors in last month's elections. Hoping to win 30% of the vote, the Socialists ended up with 31%, a showing that easily preserved their status as France's largest parliamentary party. With 206 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, the Socialists will be a considerable opposition force. The two major conservative groups and their allies won 291 seats, a hairline two-vote majority. The ultraright National Front attracted 9.7% of the vote, giving the ) party of former Paratrooper Jean-Marie Le Pen parliamentary representation for the first time, with 35 seats. The biggest loser: France's Communist Party, which slumped from 20% of the vote in 1979 to 9.8% and appears to be in an irreversible decline.