Explosive Olive Branch

To Paris, smiling hopefully, flew U.S. Troubleshooter Robert Murphy and his fellow "good officer," Britain's Harold Beeley. Cause of their optimism: Tunisia's President Habib Bourguiba, in a sudden access of moderation, had agreed to let France keep control of the great Bizerte naval base, and to accept neutral surveillance of five Tunisian air bases that he wants France to evacuate.

Striding into Tunis' ornate Constituent Assembly Hall to commemorate Tunisian Independence Day-the deadline for his threatened decision to lead Tunisia into neutralism or Nasserism unless the U.S. and Britain took his part against France-Bourguiba briskly reversed his field, declared, "We tell our Arab and Oriental brothers: We have chosen the West, and we will stay with the West. We must choose cooperation with the West to shut the gates of hell." For the first time since the bombing of Sakiet-Sidi-Youssef, Bourguiba even had a few good words for France: "I have always been in favor of cooperation with France because it is in our interest."

Ominous Whispers. It was a measure of the psychotic state of French politics that where Bourguiba's tough talk had provoked Frenchmen to fury, his proffered olive branch very nearly toppled the government of Premier Felix Gaillard. Trouble was that along with the olive branch came news that Bourguiba would still not agree to France's scheme for "neutral control'' of the border between Tunisia and revolt-torn Algeria, still insisted that France publicly concede that "in principle" Tunisia has sovereignty over Bizerte. Stirred to their chauvinistic depths. France's right-wing Independents, a vital element in Premier Gaillard's rickety government coalition, promptly repudiated all the concessions which they had agreed to only two weeks before. In the corridors of the National Assembly, there were ominous whispers that the time was at hand for the crise de regime-the final crisis that would bring down the Fourth Republic.

Shaken by the previous week's humiliating police riot (TIME, March 24), harried young Felix Gaillard hastily ordered 12,000 helmeted gendarmes flown into Paris from Algeria, Germany and the provinces. To a stonily unresponsive Assembly, Premier Gaillard declared: "It is said that the republican regime has been shaken to its foundation. This is not true. The Republic is much more firmly rooted in the hearts of Frenchmen than many pretend to believe. The only danger which threatens the Republic is the disunity of the republicans themselves and particularly of the republican majority of this Assembly which should permit the government to face up to the realities confronting it."

In the end Gaillard got his vote of confidence (282 to 196), but with it came a blunt threat from right-wing ex-Premier Andre Marie: "We give you our confidence, but if the government makes any unacceptable concessions to Tunisia through the Good Offices mission, our confidence would be withdrawn."

Holiday Freedom. Only 24 hours after the confidence vote, the Independents were at Gaillard's throat again. "Tell us exactly what you have agreed to on Tunisia, or we will withdraw our ministers," they demanded. Independent Leader Antoine Pinay came flying back to Paris from a meeting of the European Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg to quell his cohorts. But the trump card was played by Gaillard himself. Said he: "If any part of my majority leaves my side, I will resign."

The distrust of Gaillard among the Independents is matched only by their horror at the prospect of taking over his job (and with it, the onus of settling with Tunisia). With ill grace, the right-wingers backed down, announced that they would postpone until this week their demand for a full statement from the Premier on the negotiations with Bourguiba. Sighed Felix Gaillard: "Another week of survival, but that's a lot." It was.

Despite the political debility of the French Republic, France is not yet on the verge of a coup d'etat. The one individual who might bring off a coup-General Charles de Gaulle-cannot hope to do so without a far graver crisis and far more parliamentary support than he now commands. The unrest in the French army, which has aroused nervous talk abroad of a military coup, is still largely confined to a few embittered career officers, mostly young colonels exasperated by years of frustration in Indo-China, Morocco, Suez and now Algeria. As for the ordinary Frenchman, he is too busy enjoying his nation's unprecedented prosperity to feel anything more than weary apathy toward politics. Last week saw two new records set in Paris. One was for the number of private cars leaving the city on weekend jaunts into the countryside; the other was for the number of people--44%--who failed to vote in a by-election.

If Gaillard can survive until this week's end, when the National Assembly goes on Easter vacation, he can look forward to a full month in which to work toward a settlement with Tunisia, free of parliamentary interference.

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