The Pittsburgh Press (March 9, 1946)
Kirkpatrick: French coalition is cracking up
Popular Republicans may withdraw
By Helen Kirkpatrick
PARIS – France’s uneasy governmental coalition shows signs of breaking up.
Political gamblers are giving two-to-one odds that the coalition will not survive until the May elections. The Popular Republicans will hold a meeting tomorrow to decide whether to withdraw from the government. Their departure would leave the Communist-Socialist bloc with a perilously small majority.
The clash of interests between the Popular Republican Party, which vigorously supported Charles de Gaulle, and the two leftist groups has come over France’s embryo constitution as well as the indemnity to be paid owners of nationalized industries.
The Communists, supported by the Socialists, insist that the president of the French republic be elected by a single sovereign chamber.
The Popular Republicans are equally determined that three chambers – a sovereign chamber, a supreme council composed of cantonal delegates, and an economic council of workers and employers should jointly elect the president.