Apres de Gaulle, qui? goes France's favorite guessing game. Who indeed? Though le grand Charles has often hinted that he would like to retire when his term expires in 1965, he has carefully avoided designating his heir. Last week De Gaulle finally ended the suspense. At Orange, his first stop on a five-day stump tour of the eastern Rhone valley, he declared oracularly: "The essential thing for Charles de Gaulle, President of the Republic, is to know what the French people want. I have the impression that I have discerned this for a quarter of a century. I am determined, as long as I still have the strength, to continue." Translation: De Gaulle will seek reelection.
But rather than wait until 1965, when his present seven-year term is up and when France's bitterly divided opposition parties may offer a solid front, De Gaulle will probably call an election next spring. By then, Gaullists are confident, they will have arrested France's stubborn inflation and won agreement for higher prices for French farm produce within the Common Market.
In recent months, as housewives have had to pay more for food and farmers have earned less, De Gaulle's popularity has taken a sharp dip. In August only 44% of those polled declared themselves satisfied with De Gaulle as President; in 1960, 73% approved his policies. Disenchantment with De
Gaulle was dramatically evident at some of the agricultural centers on his tour. At Orange, the crowd in the Place Georges Clemenceau was as thin and spiritless as the local vin ordinaire. At Les Beaumettes, another scheduled stopover, the general was greeted by empty streets and shuttered windows, and sternly decided to drive on.
The Third World. The opposition parties are increasingly confident that continued inflation will provide the unifying issue on which they may seriously challenge De Gaulle. The government, which has enforced price cuts on some goods, denies that its ambitious defense budget (up 7.3% in 1963) has stoked inflation, but more and more Frenchmen are beginning to question the cost and value of De Gaulle's force de dissuasion, as the government now calls its nuclear deterrent.
To demonstrate his support for the force, De Gaulle last week donned flowing white robes and, looking more Delphic than ever (or perhaps like a bather), inspected two key nuclear plants, Pierrelatte (which is reportedly several months behind target) and Cadarache. On his 20th provincial tour, he treated audiences to some of the most chauvinistic speeches they have yet heard from De Gaulle. He emphasized repeatedly that France "will remain detached" from the "two great colossi," Russia and the U.S.
As for the U.S., he declared at Belley, "even if we are its allies for the equilibrium of the world, we do not want it to direct us or even become our protector." On the other hand, he hinted that France would be delighted to become the protector of a "third world" consisting of Africa, Asia, Latin America "and all those countries that are developing their personalities."