France a Marriage of Convenience

By John Greenwald.

Jacques Chirac was all smiles last week as he addressed a nationwide television audience from the reception chamber of Paris' grandiose, 19th century city hall. As mayor of Paris and the outspoken leader of the conservative Rally for the Republic party, Chirac only hours before had been named Premier by Socialist President Francois Mitterrand. For the first time in the 28-year history of the Fifth Republic, the nation's President was forced to preside over a government formed by a political rival and ideological foe. "The French must understand," Chirac declared, "that the moment has come to put an end to divisions and to rally together in a spirit of mutual tolerance for the renewal of our country."

Moments after he spoke, a bomb exploded in a crowded shopping arcade on the Champs Elysees in the center of Paris, apparently the work of Arab terrorists. Two people were killed and 28 others were wounded in the blast, which virtually guaranteed that the first task facing Chirac will be the fight against terrorism. At week's end a rash of bomb hoaxes swept Paris, causing thousands of people to be evacuated from buildings and a train while police searched for explosives.

The latest tragedy marked an inauspicious beginning to the country's historic experiment in what the French call cohabitation. This refers to the power sharing that will now ensue between Mitterrand and France's resurgent conservatives, led by Chirac's neo-Gaullist R.P.R. and former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing's Union for French Democracy. At the outset, some observers feared that the odd coupling, a direct result of the March 16 parliamentary elections that gave the conservative coalition a narrow parliamentary majority, would produce only paralysis and instability. To others, it promised to usher in a new age of pragmatism, cooperation and maturity in French politics.

The first fruits of the union came last week as Mitterrand approved Chirac's selection of a new Cabinet after 48 hours of intense negotiations. Thirteen of the ministerial appointments were filled by Chirac associates, and nine went to representatives of Giscard's U.D.F., the second-largest conservative faction. As the new Cabinet took office, outgoing Premier Laurent Fabius formally submitted his government's resignation and used the occasion for a touch of political prophecy. Said he: "We will be back."

Despite having to step down from power, Mitterrand's men were clearly among the victors in last month's elections. Hoping to win 30% of the vote, the Socialists ended up with 31%, a showing that easily preserved their status as France's largest parliamentary party. With 206 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, the Socialists will be a considerable opposition force. The two major conservative groups and their allies won 291 seats, a hairline two-vote majority. The ultraright National Front attracted 9.7% of the vote, giving the ) party of former Paratrooper Jean-Marie Le Pen parliamentary representation for the first time, with 35 seats. The biggest loser: France's Communist Party, which slumped from 20% of the vote in 1979 to 9.8% and appears to be in an irreversible decline.

Mitterrand, who personally directed the Socialist campaign, set down the guidelines for power sharing 24 hours after the ballots were counted. Impassive as ever, the President stepped before TV cameras in the Elysee Palace to deliver a blunt assessment of the election outcome. With two years left to serve, Mitterrand quickly dispelled fears that he would try to use his powers to obstruct the new conservative majority. Said he: "This majority is numerically weak, but it exists. It is thus from its ranks that I will summon the person I will have chosen to form the new government." Leaning majestically forward, Mitterrand added, "As for me, I will strive both at home and abroad to defend our liberties, our independence, our commitment to Europe and our rank in the world." He thus laid claim to the overall conduct of defense and foreign affairs.

Chirac lost no time setting the final stage of his campaign for the premiership in motion. In a series of lengthy sessions in his gold-leaf- encrusted city hall office, he met with leading figures in the conservative coalition in an effort to close ranks and make sure that no one else came forward to claim the premiership. He need not have worried. All but compelled to pick the leader of the major partner in the coalition, Mitterrand quickly settled on the Paris mayor.

Late Tuesday afternoon Chirac was summoned to the Elysee Palace to receive the news of his selection. Arriving in a silver, chauffeured Renault 25 limousine, he strode into the 18th century building and conferred alone with Mitterrand for two hours and 17 minutes in the President's brocaded, Louis XVI-style study. Aides said that the two men, who barely know each other, maintained a tone of utmost courtesy throughout the session. Together they hammered out an agreement on what one Chirac aide called "a blueprint of what they wanted their working methods to be, and of their respective domains of responsibility."

Chirac and his advisers worked through the night and all day Wednesday before settling on a new Cabinet acceptable to Mitterrand. Much of the communication with the Elysee was indirect. A favored channel: regular phone calls between top aides. Mitterrand used the process to reject several Chirac choices. Among them was U.D.F. Leader Jean Lecanuet, 66, whom Mitterrand vetoed as Foreign Minister because of his recent criticism of the President and his past enthusiasm for military ties to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The key appointments:

Edouard Balladur, 56, a close Chirac adviser, was named to the expanded position of Minister for Economy, Finance and Privatization. Balladur will direct efforts to deregulate the economy and to sell currently nationalized companies to private interests.

Jean-Bernard Raimond, 60, a respected career diplomat who has been serving as French Ambassador to Moscow, received the Foreign Affairs portfolio.

Andre Giraud, 60, who made his mark as a strong advocate of government- supported nuclear-energy programs and has favored French participation in plans for the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative, will head the Defense Ministry.

Chirac stressed last week that he intends to move quickly to put into effect major aspects of a new conservative program. Aides spoke excitedly of a "100 days' " flurry of activity. By midsummer Chirac hopes to scrap the proportional-voting system that benefited the Socialists in the last election and return to the traditional majority method of apportioning seats. He plans to lift all remaining price and exchange controls and seek a timetable for denationalizing industry. Mitterrand could have little choice but to go along. "As best one can guess," says a top Socialist official, "the President will publicly declare that he personally believes denationalization to be contrary to the national interest, and then will step aside for the democratic process."

As he presses ahead, Chirac intends to keep the right-wing National Front out of his majority coalition. The extremist followers of Le Pen blame much of France's crime and 10% unemployment on foreign workers and advocate immigration controls and deportation as remedies. While the party's appeal to many is implicitly racist, it nonetheless claims a broad-based constituency that includes farmers, factory workers and small businessmen. By contrast, support for the French Communist Party is rapidly dwindling. In the Seine-St. Denis district of Paris, the city's famed "Red belt," which gave the Communists a 29% vote in 1981, the party stumbled to a 14.5% showing in the election. Wrote a commentator in the independent leftist daily Liberation: "The party can no longer be considered a national party."

< The President and his new Premier are well aware that continued partisan wrangling might not only hinder their work but alienate voters and damage each man's standing. Both therefore have a strong interest in making power sharing succeed. Says Bernard Rideau, an author and political consultant: "What has happened is actually a giant step in our country's political maturity. Power sharing may prove that the two opposed sides can in fact reach an understanding, that they both live in the same country. Other nations know how to lead their lives that way. Until now, we did not know how to do it." It remains to be seen, of course, whether the traditionally feuding parties will emerge from their honeymoon as effective partners.

With reporting by Jordan Bonfante and Adam Zagorin/Paris