TO SURVIVE DE GAULLE
49
151. Interview, August 19, 1965. A similar view was expressed in a meeting of
UNR departmental secretaries, reported in LM, January 25, 1966.
152. See de Gaulle’s approving comments on the work of the Lille Congress in his
November, 1967, press conference, in LM, November 29, 1967.
153. Article 16, Section f, in Conseil National, U.N.R., “Reglement Intérieur,”
(Paris: UNR, 1958), mimeo., p. 6.
154. Joël Le Theule, interview, July 7, 1965.
155. Relations between the government and the Senate have been even worse;
yet the government's habit of ignoring and bypassing the Senate has reduced that
body to relatively minor importance.
156. In an interview in Entreprise, quoted in AP 1960, p. 81.
157. J.O., Deb., Ass. Natl., July, 1961, p. 1480, as quoted in Philip M. Williams,
The French Parliament (New York, 1968), p. 62. See also Lavau in Revue française
de science politique, June, 1963, p. 435; Chaban-Delmas1 remarks to the 1961
National Congress, quoted in LM, March 21, 1961; and his statement at the end of
the spring. 1965, parliamentary session, quoted in LM. July 2, 1965. Though an influ-
ential figure in his own right in party and government circles, Chaban-Delmas (a
most skilled politician) may criticize the government from time to time partly to
bolster his position within the National Assembly.
158. LM, September 24, 1961.
159. Ibid.
160. Ibid. For an earlier criticism from Schmittlein, see LM, February 12-13, 1961.
161. La Nation, April 29, 1961.
162. See Raymond SchmittIein1S letter to UNR deputies on this problem, quoted
in LM, September 24, 1961, and the letter by UNR deputy Achille Peretti, in LM,
July 27, 1963.
163. Pompidou, interview in Notre République, February 22, 1963.
164. Chariot, L'U.N.R., pp. 143-184; and Williams, The French Parliament, pp.
102-109.
165. All of the UNR deputies whom I interviewed testified to Rey’s skills as a
peacemaker.
166. According to Christian de La Malène, former minister and deputy from the
Seine, the decisions of the bureau were never reversed by the UNR caucus, which in
the second Assembly usually was attended by only a third of all UNR deputies. The
bureau was partially elected by the caucus and partially composed of UNR repre-
sentatives of Assembly committees. De La Malène, interview, July 9, 1965; and Le
TheuIe, interview, July 7, 1965.
167. See Pisani, “Sur une demission,” LM, May 13, 1967.
168. See the excerpts from Giscard d'Estaing’s statement to the National Assem-
bly during the debate over delegated powers in LM, May 23, 1967; and Chalandon,
interview in L,Express, September 10-16, 1967.
169. LM, June 30, 1967.
170. The UNR held 7 of 27 cabinet posts as of January 1, 1959; 10 of 27 as of
August 24, 1961; 12 of 25 as of May 17, 1962; and 15 of 28 as of January 10, 1966.
LM, May 18, 1962 and January 11, 1966.
171. The four members of the government who did not join one of the two Gaul-
list parliamentary groups were: Couve de Murville and Messmer, both of whom
clearly would have joined the UD-Ve had they been elected, and the two ministers
who had not been candidates, André Malraux and Jean-Marcel Jeanneney.