The Algiers putsch of 1958 began when the current government suggested that it would negotiate with the FLN, bringing the instability and ineffectiveness of the Fourth Republic to a head. On 13 May right-wing elements seized power in Algiers and called for a Government of Public Safety under General de Gaulle. Massu became chairman of the Public Safety Committee and one of the leaders of the revolt. The putschists threatened to conduct an assault on Paris, involving paratroopers and armoured forces based at Rambouillet, unless Charles de Gaulle was placed in charge of the Republic. De Gaulle did so under the precondition that a new constitution would be introduced creating a powerful presidency in which a sole executive, the first of which was to be de Gaulle, ruled for seven-year periods. These changes were introduced and the Fifth Republic was born.