Origins of the Gaullist System

Abstract

The chief architect of the Second Republic, J. R. Jayewardene, was, as with de Gaulle and the French Fifth Republic, a single-minded individual of long standing political experience, but until the penultimate hour, without much support for his cause. There were two propositions, really interconnected, which engaged Jayewardene’s attention. Firstly there was a search for executive stability. Secondly there was an anxiety to create and maintain consensus politics. Both were intended as devices to pull the country out of its economic morass. There was the conviction that Westminster-style politics had merely stabilised instability, governmental majorities always being precarious and even when comfortable, systematically eroded. More importantly, the state of the economy, after each general election, seemed to be in a worse plight than after the one immediately preceding it. The major contenders were merely auctioning away the limited assets of a society which was traversing the road to economic ruin. To this architect therefore, there were two ways of remedying the situation — the adoption of a strong presidential system and the formation of national governments based on broad agreement on the critical issues of the times. Neither of these obtained support when they were put forward.