Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-01
Election Drive
Gets Off 10 Fast
Start in France

PARIS, Dec. B.-France's
election campaign got on to o
booming start today only o few
hours after Premier Edgar
Faure's government decided to
dissolve the National Assembly.
The Socialists and hackers Of
former Premier Pierre Mendes-
France lost no time In getting
under way their drive for votes
in the nationwide election. ex-
pected to be set for January 8.
They turned their heaviest
propaganda artillery against Mr..
\ Faure and the dissolution.
The cabinet decision to dis
solve the Assembly-the first
such move in the history Of the
postwar fourth republic ~ was
announced last night. It gives
] Mr.. Faure the early election the
Assembly had denied him.
Mr.. Faure and most Of his as
! sociates will remain at their
posts to oversee the elections
/ and to handle the governments
daily business.
Dissolution Called Outrage
] The Assembly handed Mr.
Faure o vote of no-conflden
Tuesday, largely because Of its
I opposition to his campaign for
early elections. The Sl8-218 vote.
however, permitted use Of o.
clause in the 1916 constitution
: providing dissolution Of the As-I
sembly by the cabinet II two
governments were defeated on
votes of confidence by q major
ity Of all members Of the house
within an 18-month period.
MIR. Mendes-France received 81
no. confidence vote last February,
with more than half the deputies
against him.
LExpress, chief mouthpiece|
for Mr.. Mendes-France. termed
the cabinet action an outrage
against the nation"
It charged the Faure govern
ment with Lying to the country
on its real economic situationl
=. undermining the authority oil
France In Algeria and Morocco
4. I. abandoning every attempt Of
French Intervention in interna-
t1onal affairs betraying the
interests of French youth In
I leaving the economic feudalistsI
] to dictate the new policy Of the
country"
Mendes-France Active
Mr.. Mendes- France, who still
10 reorganiZing and tightening
his grip on the Radical Socialist
Party, wanted the elections de-
layed to give him more time to|
prepare for q campaign. He also
had pushed for election Of In
dividual deputies by districts, be-
lieving the change would help bis
faction.
The Radical Socialist Party,
actually neither radical nor So
cialist. has participated in the
coalition governments since No
vember, 1947. Under the premier
ship Of Mr.. Mendes-France i'll
tended toward left-of-center with
the conservative wing In opposi-
ton on some domestic and eco
nomic issues.
Mr.. Faure also is o Radical
Socialist but Mr.. Mendes-France
controls the party machinery and
"a Of its IS Assembly members.
Since the Assembly failed to-
agree on q new electoral law In
q month Of discussion. the cleo
tons presumably will be held
under the 1851 system Of modi-
fed proportional representation.
This permits alliances among
parties on q departmental (coun-
ty) level. If any alliance gets
more than half the votes, 1t gets
all the seats from the depart
ment.
The Socialists also blasted the
cabinet decision, issuing a COM
munique declaring:
by this anti Republican ma
newer in formal violation Of the
spirit of the constitution, the
minority government, disavowed
by two-thirds of the Deputies,
keeps itself in power all the
while refusing to reveal to the
country the tragic economic,
social and financial situation in
which four years Of reactionary
policies have plunged It,"
The Communists. who sup
ported Mr.. Faure on five conf
dence votes but turned against
him Tuesday, refrained from
criticizing the government for
the dissolution decision. They
have maintained all along that