Dissolve & Rule

That querulous congregation of contention. the French Assembly, gathered last week in a mood as black as the sooty exterior of its Seine-side meeting place. For the third time in three weeks, owlish little Premier Edgar Faure was bobbing and weaving frantically to save his political life.

Nobody was happy over the way things were going. French prestige abroad was suffering one defeat after another. First there was the massive repudiation by Saar voters of France's ten-year rule. Snorted Deputy Jacques Vendrous, De Gaulle's brother-in-law: "France played cards while the Saar was lost." Deputies were also nettled at South Viet Nam's summary rejection of French Puppet Bao Dai, and shocked by the sudden defection of El Glaoui, France's oldest Moroccan ally. Yet none of these reverses vexed the touchy Deputies as much as Edgar Faure's surprise proposal (TIME, Oct. 31) for snap Assembly elections to be held before Christmas. "Grave national responsibilities" confronting the country early next year, Faure had said, required that the Assembly renew its mandate, which otherwise would not expire until June. Of course, the scheme might just possibly keep nimble Edgar Faure atop the political heap a while longer, too.

A tricky Socialist motion attacking "general government policy" gave Deputies the chance to vent their annoyance at Faure without going on record against an early election. Members muttered and interrupted Faure as he spoke until he finally shouted: "You asked me for a reckoning. The least you can do is to listen to it." "He's cooked," said one Deputy. Faure lost by three votes, and had no choice but to call for a formal vote of confidence next day. Leaving the chamber at 3 a.m., he remarked, "At least I can feel myself thoroughly beaten."

The issue was settled in the corridors, not on the rostrum. Next morning, after a few short speeches, the Assembly went straight to the vote. Government aides sprang to their telephones in a wild effort to rally Faure's supporters. The opposition did likewise. Ailing Communist Chief Maurice Thorez, making his first appearance since he suffered a stroke in 1950, limped in on a cane to cast a vote against Faure. But the dominant fact of the present Assembly is that it fears a return to power by Pierre Mendes-France more than it dislikes Edgar Faure. By threatening the Gaullists with loss of all right-wing support in the next elections, Faure's backers pressured a dozen or so Gaullist deputies into abstaining rather than voting against him. When the ballots were counted, the government squeaked through by twelve votes, 271 to 259.

Grudging or not, it was a decision the Assembly could not easily go back on. This week, as Faure called a full-dress debate on the election issue itself, all parties knocked themselves out protesting their ardent approval for the idea of consulting the beautiful, sovereign people.

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