PARIS - France's communists were jubilant as exit polls from the first round vote placed them above the 10 per cent barrier, reversing a long term decline for what was once the country's largest party.
At the headquarters of the party newspaper, L'Humanite, supporters were at first restrained as an early estimate soon after the 8:00 p.m. close of voting placed them slightly under the 10 per cent target they had set themselves, but then smiled broadly as a later figure credited them with 10.5 per cent.
The PCF leader, Mr Robert Hue, hailed the earlier figure as a consolidation" of the party's success in halting its long decline, and called for a further effort in next Sunday's second round.
The Communist Party score in national elections, presidential and parliamentary, has tumbled from more than 20 per cent in the immediate postwar period to single figure levels in recent years.