March 5 elections offered confirmation, if there was still need of it,. of. how strongly the French Communist party is entrenched in the big industrial centers. In the electoral arena it remains the party of the majority of the working class. The candidates of the Socialist party (under the FGDS label) who also have a working-class base in certain important regions, hardly cut into the Communist vote.
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The general staffs of the political formations are now busy with the withdrawals and candidacies for the second round. In the 404 seats remaining at stake, the situation is such that at most there are not more than fifteen districts where difficulties can arise between the FGDS and the PCF. In fact, in a few districts, the candidates of the two formations came quite close to each other in votes, the PCF candidate being in the lead but the FGDS candidate being able to argue that a PCF withdrawal in behalf of its candidate would enable him to also secure the votes of the Democratic Center candidate, thus defeating the gaullist. In some cases the candidate himself will insist on staying in, even without the approval of the FGDS. We will not enter this smoke-filled roon.
It is obviously in the logic of parliamentarian conceptions, but the PCF which in 1962 accepted in various cases, will probably be more reluctant this time, obviously not for principled reasons. In any case, the results will be minimum on the composition of the next National Assembly.
We will return to this subject after the second round.
March 7, 1967
ANTIWAR DEMONSTRATION IN BRUSSELS
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