The Changing Of the Guard

By Patricia Blake

Enter Mitterrand, with a rose and plebeian touch

"You may my glories and my state depose,

But not my griefs; still am I king of those. "

-- King Richard II

For sheer theatricality, Valery Giscard d'Estaing's passing from the presidency in France rivaled King Richard II's dethronement in Shakespeare's play. In a carefully staged farewell address to the nation on television last week, the defeated President seemed to concede that, like the deposed monarch, he had not yet "shook off the regal thoughts wherewith I reign'd." Seated at a desk in solitary grandeur in a leather-bound chair in an otherwise unfurnished room, Giscard spoke of "the end of great hopes" brought about by the election two weeks ago of Socialist Franc,ois Mitterrand. At the same time, he pledged that he would always be at his "country's disposal," presumably in case the electorate should one day decide to oust the usurper. Giscard ended his address with an emotional invocation: "In these difficult times, when evil prowls and strikes in the world, I hope that Providence will watch over France, for its happiness, its well-being and its greatness." Finally, he intoned a solemn "au revoir, "rose and walked slowly out of camera view to the music of the Marseillaise. Following the President's exit, France's national anthem continued to be played at a dirgelike pace for 53 seconds while the camera focused on Giscard's empty chair.

This generation of Frenchmen had never experienced the transfer of presidential power from one side of the political fence to the other, and they were not sure what to expect after Giscard's regal exit. As it turned out, Franc,ois Mitterrand's inauguration attempted to set a deliberately plebeian tone. France's new Socialist President arrived at the Elysee Palace dressed in a plain, dark flannel suit and a red tie. On hand to greet him at the top of the steps of the presidential palace was Giscard, who, after a brief handshake, took his successor to his old corner office, overlooking the Elysee's lush gardens. There the two politicians remained closeted for a 45-minute colloquy that symbolized the transfer of presidential power.

Then, as Giscard walked out the front gate to his private car, Mitterrand proceeded to the tapestry-lined Salle des Fetes to greet several hundred invited guests, including local officials from the Charente region where he was born 64 years ago, Neo-Gaullist Leader Jacques Chirac in his capacity as mayor of Paris, and several Communist members of Parliament. Most conspicuous were the scores of Socialists who had assembled to witness their leader's triumph, such as Lionel Jospin, Mitterrand's successor as party chief, and Pierre Mendes-France, 74, former Socialist Premier in whose Cabinet Mitterrand served from June 1954 to February 1955.

The formal inaugural ceremony was as laconic as tradition allowed. President of the Constitutional Council Roger Frey read a brief statement declaring that Mitterrand had won a majority of votes in the May 10 election. Mitterrand then stepped to the microphones and made a four-minute speech that was obviously intended to convey reassurance rather than radicalism. "It is natural for a great nation to have great ambitions," he said. "In today's world, can there be a loftier duty for our country than to achieve a new alliance between socialism and liberty?" Speaking of his election, he said, "There was only one victor on May 10--hope. May it become the best shared asset in France." Promising that he would be President of all the French, regardless of their political views, Mitterrand concluded: "To all French men and women beyond this room and beyond this palace, I say: Let's have faith and confidence in the future. Vive la Republique! Vive la France!" Only once did the impassive-looking President allow himself a show of personal emotion. Pausing in the handshaking that followed his speech, he wrapped his arms around Mendes-France, bringing tears to the venerable Socialist's eyes.

Minutes later, Mitterrand's first Cabinet choice was announced. Pierre Mauroy, 52, the mayor of the northern industrial city of Lille and longtime Socialist Party stalwart, was named Premier in the interim government that will rule until the parliamentary elections take place next month. Other ministerial appointments announced later in the week included some familiar names in the hierarchy of the Socialist Party. The new Foreign Minister will be Claude Cheysson, 61, the architect of the European Community's liberal Third World trade policy. Banker Jacques Delors, 55, once a key adviser to former Gaullist Premier Jacques Chaban-Delmas, will be Minister of Economy and Finance. Gaston Deferre, 70, the mayor of Marseille, will be the nation's top policeman in his capacity as Minister of the Interior. Mitterrand's rival for the presidential nomination last year, Michel Rocard, 50, will be Minister for Planning and Regional Development.

Following the ritual wreath laying at the tomb of the unknown soldier under the Arc de Triomphe--attended by such fellow Socialists as former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt and Greek Actress and Parliamentarian Melina Mercouri--Mitterrand proceeded to the Left Bank and a new ceremony of his own: a pilgrimage to the Pantheon that provided a television spectacular that was even better orchestrated than Giscard's farewell.

At the Pantheon, where many of France's great men are entombed, Mitterrand was greeted by the Orchestre de Paris playing Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." As the music swelled, he descended into the labyrinthine crypt. Impervious to the television camera recording his progress, the solitary President walked to the tomb of Resistance Hero Jean Moulin, paused a moment, then placed a single rose upon the stark stone monument. He went on to the grave of Jean Jaures, the father of French Socialism. Again there was a long pause--and another rose. When Mitterrand emerged from the Pantheon to face a crowd of cheering young supporters brandishing red roses, he displayed the first smile of his inauguration day. A final flourish was provided by a rendition of the Marseillaise at the brisk, exuberant post-Giscard tempo that has been personally prescribed by Mitterrand.

The new administration's first acts reflected Mitterrand's priorities. On inauguration night Premier Mauroy announced a series of technical measures to protect the hemorrhaging franc, which the Bank of France has been trying to defend at the rate of $200 million per day since Mitterrand's election caused a run on the franc in Europe's money markets. The next morning the new President visited the Elysee Palace's underground "Jupiter Room" for a briefing on France's nuclear forces. By noon he had issued a decree dissolving the National Assembly and calling for new parliamentary elections June 14 and 21.

Mitterrand's dissolution of the 491-member Assembly, which is at present dominated by center-right parties, was essential. In order to govern, let alone deliver on his campaign promises to create new jobs and nationalize eleven major industries, Mitterrand needs a Socialist majority or an effective leftist coalition in Parliament. This week Socialist Party Chief Jospin will open negotiations with the Communist leadership to determine the two parties' relationship during the forthcoming election campaign, and perhaps in the government that will be formed thereafter. The results of the latest public opinion poll in France suggested that the Socialists may hold an unexpectedly strong hand in dealing with the Communists. The poll, published in the newsmagazine Le Point, gave the Socialists and their left-radical allies a stunning 36% of the vote. That percentage would translate into 244 Assembly seats, more than twice the Socialists' current strength and only two shy of an absolute majority. If the poll proves to be correct (and it called Mitterrand's presidential victory to the percentage point), a Socialist alliance with the Communists in Parliament may not be necessary.

Meanwhile members of Giscard's Union for French Democracy (U.D.F.) were running scared in the face of a possible Socialist surge in the June elections. Discarding Giscard as a divisive force, the U.D.F. had turned to Chirac, calculating that only an alliance with the Neo-Gaullists offered a hope of an Assembly coalition capable of blocking Mitterrand's most radical reforms.

Meanwhile, Giscard has repaired to his chateau near the Loire Valley town of Authon, in possible imitation of Charles de Gaulle, who spent twelve years in his country house before returning to power in 1958. Giscard plans to start work on his memoirs while awaiting the anguished call that he believes will inevitably come after Mitterrand--as he foresees it--has crippled France's economy and its political institutions. "In my Loire Valley retreat," Giscard had mused bitterly in a pre-election allusion to his possible defeat, "I will be the most popular man in France." --By Patricia Blake. Reported by Henry Muller/Paris

With reporting by Henry Muller

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