The French Socialist Party government of Francois Mitterrand is about to suffer nation in next Sunday's elections for local councils.
Opinion polls put the Socialists .. the country's 5 and 1 per cent. For the party in power this is a devastating result. Front National of Jean-Marie Le P'en looks ortain to win the elections in the rosperot rovence-Alps-Cotes D Azur *This are, besides being next to Marseilles with its huge im. moment po bundreds o home hundreds thousands of "pieds noin white former residents of French North Africa.
Disillusion
Defeat for the Socialists and the rise of the Front National stems from the same root cause - utter disillusionment with the Socialist Party in goverWhen Mitterrand came to power in 1961 it was on the wake of extravagant prumises for a new France. The SP built itself in the 1970% by posing as the 'modern' face of socialism, compared to the old-fashioned Stalinism of the Communists.
Until 1984 Communist ministers participated in government. After an initial atempt to rellate the economy the Socialists adopted deflationary policies, presiding over grow ing unemployment and wor sening living standards.
The organisational base ol he SP in the working class hat withered. SP lendems, includ ing prime minister Edith Cres son, have capitulated to the raasm of the romatoma and begun expelling im migrants. And scandal and corruption have rocked the The current election campaign has been marked by the adoption of a new and more militant tactics by anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations.
After the huge success of the 25 January anti-Le Pen demonstration, the anti-fas cists have turned to mase street demonstrations against the Front National at all its election rallies.
This culminated with street battles in Chartres last Sunday, tacked demonstrators with It seems likely that the Green vote will suffer from a split which means there are two ecologist slates. The only far left lists are those of the Trotskyist organisation Latte