President Rene Coty asked the general to form a new government as the war in Algeria threatens to bring civil war to a France divided into those who want to see the colony independent and those who wish it to remain a part of France.

The president's decision was endorsed today by the National Assembly which voted by 329 votes to 224 to have him as prime minister.

General de Gaulle demanded special powers for at least six months to restore order and unity, and to draft a new constitution for a Fifth Republic and submit it to the people in a referendum in the autumn.

The Assembly will vote on the issue of special powers tomorrow before parliament goes into recess for six months.

Civil war

In a speech to a crowded Assembly he painted a bleak picture of France "threatened with dislocation and perhaps civil war".

But apart from mentioning a change in the relationship between France "and the peoples who are associated with her", he did not say exactly how he would go about resolving the issue.

The general is expected to visit war-torn Algeria within a week. There is growing feeling among the loyalists there that de Gaulle will give in to Muslim demands for an independent Algeria.

More power to president

General De Gaulle resigned in 1946 after a Constituent Assembly drafted a new constitution that rejected his plan for a strong executive.

The general regards the divisions within parties in parliament as a great weakness that may have led to the fall of France in 1940.

He believes in a strong executive and a clear division of power between the legislature and the executive.

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