Returning from Geneva, Foreign Minister Antoine Pinay observed that the next step was for the foreign ministers to report to their chiefs of government -"at least those lucky enough to have one," he added wryly. At week's end Pinay and France still had Edgar Faure as chief of government. But he was a Premier kept in office by Communist votes, at odds with his Cabinet, rebuffed by his Assembly.
Concealed in the bewildering shuttle-cocking of maneuvers was a crucial issue: how a new Assembly should be elected. The method chosen would determine the balance of political power in France. All...