FRANCE: Trying to Exorcise a Specter

"There is no heir to Gaullism. Georges Pompidou's death has ended the lineage. It is finished." So declared Socialist Party Leader Francçois Mitterrand, 57, who stands a reasonable chance of breaking Gaullism's 16-year monopoly of the presidency of the Fifth Republic. With twelve candidates running to succeed Pompidou in the May 5 election, public opinion polls last week showed that Socialist Mitterrand, who also has the support of France's formidable Communist Party, is now favored by 40% of the voters. Most of the Gaullist and middle-of-the-road vote is divided between Finance Minister...

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