The Reds Again

Last Sunday 78% of the French voters went to the polls -- a million less than in last June's elections, but two million more than spoke their minds on the Constitution last month. As had been foreseen, there were no sharp swings of popular sentiment.

On the basis of nearly final returns this week, the Communists had gained 20 Assembly seats and led the M.R.P. (Catholic Progressives) 170-to-161. The M.R.P.

remained practically stationary, losing some votes to the center and right parties, which were aided by Charles de Gaulle's pre-election pronouncements, and picking up others from dissatisfied Socialists. A clearly moribund party, the Socialists lost votes in all directions, dropping at least 27 seats, perhaps more. Mourned Socialist Yves Dechezelle: "A crisis of democracy!" Although they got only 29% of the popular vote, the Communists had again become France's largest party. As party and interparty caucuses brought political heads together this week, the question was whether the Reds would enter a coalition government with a non-Communist Premier, as they had done before, or whether they would insist on naming a Communist Premier of their own. Their candidate for Premier would probably be burly, shrewd Maurice Thorez (TIME, June 3). If Thorez gets the job, he will be the first Communist Premier ever to take office in western Europe. The anti-Communist sentiment of other parties is so strong, however, that he was regarded as a long shot, 10-to-1 at best.

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