Return of the Native

After three years of political exile, Valery Giscard d'Estaing has become the first former President since the Fifth Republic wa; founded in 1958 to regain a seat in the National Assembly. Giscard, who was defeated by Franc,ois Mitterrand in 1981 , captured an impressive 63% of the vote in the department of Puy-de-Dome regaining a seat he had held repeatedly since 1956. The winner who has made no secret of his desire to be the center-right presidential candidate in 1988, proclaimed his "victory of reason."

It could not have come at a better time for Giscard. Since leaving the presidency he has watched his support slip away to other center-right politicians, first to Paris Mayor Jacques Chirac and lately to Raymond Barre, each of whom had served as Giscard's Premier. The former President has not scored well in recent opinion polls, trailing both Barre and Chirac as well as Simone Veil, a former Giscard Cabinet Minister and now a French member of the European Parliament. Last week's victory was important for Giscard, according to Political Writer Jean-Marie Benoist, because "it restored his confidence." Giscard campaigned in a downhome, American style, calling the charge that he is out of touch "a myth." While some political analysts see his victory as an indication of dissatisfaction with Mitterrand, others wonder whether Giscard's return will succeed only in further fracturing the center-right.