Giscard's burden
by the narrowest of majorities the French People have decided to avoid national selfuestruction, and M. Giscard d'Estaing has Proceeded with grace to the leadership of his ec'untry. Had the most politically sophisticated !hajor power on the European mainland lollowed its junior fellows like Portugal and ItalY in giving a voice in its affairs to Comlililonism the plight of our civilisation would ave been parlous indeed: as it is, already there are mutterings of discontent, and threats ,cf disobedience, among the ranks of the u!ntocratically vanquished. Fortunately, M. G,Iscard has behaved as every sane admirer of 11111.s had hoped he would, and offered to open ls administration to any organised body of PPinion which favours order.
Vet the task ahead of him is a formidable one. The great advantage of a presidential system °...ver a parliamentary is that a strong executive eresident can create momentary but powerful coalitions to defend stability without very :latch recourse to party. The great disadvant'age of a presidential system such as the 'tench — though, to be fair, it was a much greater disadvantage under the fissiparous Parliamentary system of the Fourth Republic IS that party, and the interests and beliefs mat go to make up party, are rarely given the cPPortunity to grow, develop and mature into Permanent representations of interest and ekonviction such as — broadly speaking — we in the Conservative and Labour Parties in ntain. We wrote, after the first round of the "rench elections, that M. Giscard, if he won, Wottld be faced with the enormous challenge (lf turning the forces of the right into just such 4I1 enduring creation. It is a task which all the 111110st formidable of recent French politicians a. Ve declined: General de Gaulle himself desrased party; M. Couve de Murville — his vourdd successor — would have taken an IN:Mally*Olympian view; M. Pompidou never .eiTied to have time to consider party; and M. %card belongs to a minority party. All the _ih.eavier, therefore, is his burden: if he `Ischarges it, and creates a re-alignment of the Itht, he will have deserved even more from the than is due to him for his victory over me forces of disorder last Sunday.
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