Inching behind a snowplow in his beige Peugeot, French Premier Georges Pompidou trekked manfully through the hills of his native Auvergne, waving at the few hardy souls on the roads. Warmed by a coal heater, Catholic Centrist Jean Lecanuet stood on a sawdust floor in Murat and told 300 townsmen that the government had forgotten them. Socialist Leader François Mitterrand was in Ussel, holding forth on the evils of "caste and privilege" in a hall that stank of sweat and Gauloise Bleue cigarettes. And at Aubervilliers, Communist Waldeck Rochet denounced "social demagoguery" in a suitably dingy gymnasium.
Buried Hatchet. Thus, amid all the proclaimed grandeur of Charles de Gaulle's France, the Fifth Republic last week approached what may be the most important political event in its eight years of existence: this month's parliamentary elections. The first round of balloting is on March 5, with runoff elections a week later. Although De Gaulle's own job is not on the line, the future of Gaullism in France definitely is. This time around, the Gaullists suffer not only from a decline in the popularity of le grand Charles but from the fact that the opposition is better organized than ever before. Two months ago, for example, France's bickering leftist parties agreed to bury the hatchet long enough to try to defeat the Gaullists at the polls.
Moreover, while De Gaulle's foreign policy (including his snubbing of the U.S. and courting of the Communist bloc) is generally popular with the voters, the real issue this time is in the Frenchman's portefeuille. His pocketbook is noticeably thinner, in large part because De Gaulle has not done much recently for France's economy. Among Common Market countries, France trails all but Luxembourg in the growth of industrial production, while its cost of living (which rose 14% last year) is the highest in Europe. The unemployment rate, which for years was one of Europe's lowest and most stable, has climbed 11% since November. The Paris Bourse, in the doldrums since 1963, dropped another 10% last year. Faced with increasing signs of recession, many employers have had to eliminate the overtime pay with which the French have long bought the TV sets, autos and washing machines that are the symbols of their treasured vie de grand standing.
Opposition candidates have been quick to capitalize on the crisis. "In the past," says Marseille's popular Socialist mayor, Gaston Defferre, "people voted for De Gaulle because he represented security. This is no longer true. Gaullism has failed the country socially, financially and economically." Asks Liberal Catholic Leader Lecanuet, a resolute pro-American: "Why doesn't France progress? We cannot have a force de frappe, a policy of prestige and national ambition, and at the same time build 600,000 housing units each year."