A Gaullist Scenario

What will President Georges Pompidou do if the Gaullists win next month's parliamentary elections? According to one highly imaginative scenario that political observers in Paris are currently debating, his first step will be to sack lackluster Premier Pierre Messmer, 56, and appoint in his stead Minister of Finance Valery Giscard d'Estaing, 47. As it happens, the suave, non-Gaullist Giscard is regarded as Pompidou's arch rival for the 1976 presidential elections. Last week he came in a close second to former Premier Jacques Chaban-Delmas in a nationwide popularity poll.

On the surface, appointing Giscard to France's No. 2 job might seem like political masochism--but wait. According to the script, Pompidou, 61, would not wait for the 1976 elections, when Giscard would be a more potent threat. After naming his new Premier, Pompidou would promptly resign, ask the country for a vote of confidence and get himself re-elected before the left-wing opposition has a chance to catch its breath. Voila! Another seven-year term in the Elysee Palace--if the voters go along with the scenario.

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