FAURE: SINISTER 'LIBERAL OF FRENCH POLITICS

Edgar Faure is back in the French cabinet, serv. ing under Pierre Messmer. That in itself is almost a programme.

In July 1968 Faure was selected by General de Gaulle to carry out a special task of great delicacy. He had to restore order to the French universities after the student revolt of May, outwit and isolate the leadership of that revolt and carry through a reform of the antiquated educational system to meet the needs of modern capitalism.

There was no doubt about his astuteness in carrying through the first part of that task. He completed the work of the CRS (para-military police) and revealed the political bankruptcy of the student leadership of May. Before the reforms had been carried through, however, he was replaced in the government reshuffle which followed the election of Pompidou.

Now the old troubleshooter, miscalled a liberal, is back on the job. This time it is the toughest one of his career: he has to find a way of opposing the demands of the working class while appearing to make a few (inexpensive) concessions.

Edgar Faure has had a strange and tortuous political career. A brief survey of its highlights may shed some light on his role in the Messmer government of class war.

His background and contacts span a wide spectrum of French politics. He has friends on the extreme right while he likes to pass for a 'left'. He was actually Prime Minister at what, for France, was the early age of 41—if only for three weeks.

A POLITICAL CAREER Before 1939 Faure was mainly concerned with building up a prosperous legal practice. One of his best friends was the extreme right-winger and Petain-supporter, Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancourt, also a lawyer, and later to be a candidate for the presidency. He now gives conditional support to Pompidou.

During the war Faure fled to Tunisia (then a colony) and after the arrival of the Anglo-American • forces joined de Gaulle. He was one of the French prosecuting team at the Nuremberg Trial of Nazi leaders. With the peace he decided to embark on a political career.

After a flirtation with the Catholic MRP, he joined the Radicals, the traditional anticlerical party. His colleagues included Michel Debré and Jacques Chaban-Delmas-both later to become Gaullist Prime Ministers.

In 1946 he became a deputy for the first time. His first post as a junior minister came in the right-wing Queuille government in 1949. At this time French politics was like a game of musical chairs. By 1952 the up-and-coming Edgar Faure became Prime Minister. Unhappily for him the music started up again after only three weeks in that office.

About this time he began to seek a reputation as a liberal. His father, an ex-army doctor, had flirted with the Communist Party. His wife, who writes detective stories, is described as 'progressive' After a spell as Minister Top: Faure In 1968 as Minister ( his friends, de Gaulle and Chaban Finance in the right-wing conservative government of Laniel in 1953, he moved on to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 'left' government of Pierre Mendès-France. Protection of the franc was one of his main concerns-after the advanceright:

ment of his personal career.

Besides being a successful politician of the Fourth Republic Faure had also made a comfortable fortune. There were ugly rumours fortune in 1955 that he had secured a reduction in the tax on the sale of race-horses for personal reasons. He and Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber almost fought a duel over this question-with pistols. An apology came in time for it to be called oil, though not before J-J-S-S had posed for the cameras doing some practice shots.

COMPROMISING PERSONALITY Not long after this lurid incident Faure was back as Prime Minister, this time for a few months. At the end of 1956 the so-called Republican Front of Mendès-France and Guy Mollet won the elections. Faure was out. Not long afterwards he was pushed out of the Radical Party as well. He was too compromising a personality and a hint of scandal floated about his name.

May 1958, in the crisis provoked by the settler uprising in Algeria, found him in the last, short-lived government of the Fourth Republic. De Gaulle took power two weeks later. At this time Faure was not a Gaullist; in fact he criticized 'the personal power' in company with the Communist But was way back to political life. In 1961 he was re-admitted to the Radical Party. He learned that Gaullism was likely to last for some time, so he became a confidant of de Gaulle's. By 1963 he was the General's informal envoy to Mao Tse-tung, preceding Nixon by nine years. His book on China helped to give him a 'left' image. Enjoying the confidence of the ageing General he built himself a clientele among young and 'progressive' technocrats.

In 1966-1967 he was Minister of Agriculture in a Gaullist cabinet with the special task of dealing with the restive peasantry whose position was being undermined by the Common Market price policy and the advance of big capital.

So it was not surprising that the wily lawyer was brought into the cabinet to handle the students in 1968—nor that Chaban-Delmas considered him a dangerous rival.

Faure is. not aiming to remain a minister or even to become Prime Minister for the third time. It is clear that he aims still higher, his eyes on the 1976 presidential elections. But he is not the only candidate for Pompidou's succession and there are many things which can happen before then.