Evening star., 1952-01-25
Premier Foure and Tunisio

In his drSt test In the NATIONAL Assembly
since becoming the new Premier Of France,
Edgar Faure has won resounding vote Of con-
fidence approving both the cabinet he has or
ganized and his statement of policy on the ex-
plosiye situation in Tunisia. But his victory In
this instance offers no assurance whatever that
he will be able to ride out the storms ahead
and enjoy q long tenure OF Office On the con-
traryi barring miracle of sorts, the chances
are that his government will be saort-lived.
This is so because the very nature of Frances
postwar political system, with its multiplicity
Of non-majority parties has made 1t more or
less inevitable that there should be a frequent
rise and fall of governments in Paris. Like his
predecessors last being Rene Pleven-Pre-
mier Faure has had to organize coalition made
up Of his own Radical Socialists and such other
iniddle-of- the readers as the Popular Republic
cans But this cabinet-Which Is almost iden-
tical with the one that fell a fortnight ago
cannot be sure from one day to the next that
It will have enough parliamentary support to
keep It in power.
Thus, besides having to cope with factional
divisions within itself, the Faure government
must deal with National Assembly where the
Communists can be counted upon to vote against
1t all the time and where General de Gaulle's
followers, who hold the biggest single bloc OF
seats, will seldom II ever support it. In effect.
1t will, therefore be able to live only by suffer-
ance OF the Socialists, who have refused to par
ticipate in it and who have promised only to be
as politically benevolent as in the past-a
benevolence which prior coalitions have enjoyed
in the form of strong backing for the Atlantic
Pact, the Schuman Plan and other vital inter-
national measures, but which has evaporated
over certain domestic issues.
T1anca domestic iSS1inS-Yna3nY differences
over wage increases and anti-infiationary re-
forms still remain to be settled, and unless Pre-
mier Faure has more success with them than
his predecessor had, he will not retain the pres
ent support of the Socialists. The latter, more
over although they have backed him in his
first statement on the subject, have indicated
that they are reserying judgment as to his policy
on Tunisia, the French protectorate in North
Africa. They have not objected to his declara-
ton that he proposes to act firmly against the
bloody rioting there but they have made clear
that they are against unjustided repressive
measures and will insisEaon genuine Cancellation.
Premier Faure. for his own part, has prom
ised that conscientious effort will be made
to work out an agreement with the Tunisian
cabinet to bring about full independence for the
protectorate on step-by -step basis However,
this predominantly Arab land, whose nominal
sovereign is the Bey Of Tunis, has been whipped
into hot temper by powerful nationalist Lead
ers who are demanding that the issue be taken
to the United Nations Security Council, where
the Kremlin would play hob with it. Up to now,
with Anglo American and other Western sup
port the French have sidetracked the demand
but what remains to be seen is whether they
will be able to negotiate sound bilateral settle
ment in the ugly atmosphere prevailing-an
atmosphere being exploited by the Communists
Wholly apart from domestic issues, the
Tunisian situationAwhich endangers Western
security interests-thus adds up to what is prob-
ably the hardest test confronting the new cabi-
net in Paris. If Premier Faure does not meet
it in way that win satisfy the Socialists, ne
viii fan. one can only hope that he succeeds
Certainly, in the present state OF International
affairs, few things could be more helpful than
a reasonably long-lived and stable French gov
ernment.