FRANCE: THE POWER PASSES TO POMPIDOU

WITHIN the Gobelin-hung halls of the Elysee Palace mingled the political and military leaders of France, their tricolor sashes and bemedaled uniforms testifying to their country's proud if sometimes painful past. Outside in the courtyard, drawn up on one side of a red carpet that stretched across the white gravel, stood a company of the Republican Guard, resplendent in their 19th century red-trimmed uniforms. Down the ribbon of carpet last week walked Georges Pompidou, the man to whom France has entrusted its destiny for the next seven years.

Pompidou was met at the palace steps by interim President Alain Poher, whom he defeated in the two-round election that chose Charles de Gaulle's successor. Together, victor and vanquished walked to the elegant Salle des Fetes, where other officials and guests had assembled. A chamber ensemble that had been playing Lully's Les Mousquetaires du Roy fell silent. The president of the Constitutional Council, which oversees elections, stepped forward to proclaim Pompidou as President. Then the grand chancellor of the Legion of Honor slipped around Pompidou's neck the heavy chain of a grand master of the order, symbolic of the Presidency.

Tensions Within GaulIism. At that moment, artillery began to fire along the Seine, the reports reverberating in the Elysee. To the counterpoint of the 21-gun salute, President Pompidou made a brief inaugural address. Praising the man who only eleven months earlier had sacked him as Premier, Pompidou said: "General de Gaulle represented France with unprecedented eclat and authority. My duty is delineated by his example. I intend to fulfill it with the strictest respect for the constitution of the Fifth Republic and with the will to uphold the dignity of France."

The panoply of the inaugural could not conceal the anxieties and tensions that gnaw at the Gaullist party. Arriving late at the Elysee, Michel Debre, one of De Gaulle's most loyal ministers, seemed agitated. Former Culture Minister Andre Malraux, the ideologue of Gaullism, also seemed nervous, bringing his left hand to his mouth as if to bite his nails. Outgoing Premier Maurice Couve de Murville looked even more icy and dour than usual. The old Gaullist veterans remember all too well that in 1953, the last time De Gaulle huffily retired from French politics, the party fell apart almost immediately. This time they are determined that Gaullism will remain a strong, united force.

Many of them are slightly wary of Pompidou. Though he is a longtime party member, he lacks the Resistance credentials and almost mystical faith in the General's wisdom that mark true Gaullists. During the campaign, he made an open bid to gain a measure of independence from his party. In an effort to enlist the support of non-Gaullist parties, Pompidou promised to make what he called "openings" in domestic and foreign policy. The Gaullists fear that those openings might erode their power. Some of them are worried that Pompidou might bring too many outsiders into his Cabinet, while others, notably former Justice Minister Rene Capitant, are fretting that Pompidou will not pursue De Gaulle's social schemes, such as worker participation in management.

Reassuring Elan. The President is, of course, aware of these pressures. As a practical politician, he knows that he needs the support of the Gaullist majority in the National Assembly. He also wants to avoid any public quarrel with De Gaulle, who last week returned from his self-imposed Irish exile to set up an office in Paris. Even so, in the days prior to his inauguration, Pompidou went about politicking and Cabinet-building with reassuring elan.

Operating out of temporary headquarters in a Left Bank apartment that was once Princess Lee Radziwill's pied-`a-terre, Pompidou sped around town for private meetings and lunches with prospective ministerial candidates. A mobile postal unit was set up in the courtyard of the apartment building to handle the stream of congratulatory telegrams, including one from De Gaulle that saluted his victory "for every personal and national reason." During the politicking, Pompidou's bubbly wife Claude stayed discreetly in the background. After the inauguration, she turned up at the Hotel de Ville to watch Georges receive the homage of the city of Paris and later strolled with him through the Elysee rose gardens.

Crucial Portfolio. Pompidou's first Cabinet appointment was perhaps the easiest and least controversial. His choice for Premier was Jacques Chaban-Delmas, 54, the President of the National Assembly (see box). The most crucial portfolio decision to be made was the selection of a Foreign Minister.

Valery Giscard d'Estaing of the Independent Republican Party badly wanted the Quai d'Orsay. Since Giscard is on record as favoring British admission to the Common Market and a less nationalistic approach to foreign affairs, his appointment would signal substantial departures from De Gaulle's policies. The Gaullists vigorously opposed the appointment, insisting that Debre be kept on. At week's end Pompidou's people indicated that the President would compromise and pick neither man for the job.

Chaban-Delmas did let it be known, however, that Giscard would get another Cabinet position, perhaps his old one for a time under De Gaulle: the Finance Ministry. The Premier also said that at least three other Gaullist ministers would survive the transition of power. They were former Minister of Industries Olivier Guichard, Minister of State Roger Frey and Finance Minister Franc,ois-Xavier Ortoli. What did they have in common? Close personal and political ties to the new President.

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