The president of France, Emmanuel Macronappointed this Tuesday the Minister of Education, Gabriel Attalas new prime minister after the resignation, yesterday, of Elisabeth Borne as head of the Executive. With Attal, 34, Macron hopes to breathe oxygen into her second term with an eye toward the european elections next June, in which the party of Marine Le Penthe far-right National Regroupingwould obtain victory with 30% of the votes compared to 20% for the government coalition, according to the polls.
With this remodeling of the Cabinet, the French president tries to overcome the crises experienced in 2023 with the unpopular pension reform and the questioned immigration law approved with the support of the extreme right.
Attal is one of the most popular politicians in the country and with his appointment he becomes the youngest prime minister in the history of France and the first openly homosexual. Very close to Macron and a former socialist militant, the until today Minister of Education carved out a niche for himself in national politics by serving as government spokesperson during the covid pandemic.
First task
Its first task will be to form a new Government under the sign of “rearmament” announced by the head of State during his New Year’s greetings: “Industrial, economic, European” but also “civic” rearmament, particularly around the great school project that Gabriel Attal has carried out since the summer, initiating numerous reforms, reports France Presse. Among these reforms is the controversial ban on the abaya at school in the name of the “secularism” of the French State.
He “embodies the drive, the dynamic, the audacity that we surely need,” summarizes one member of the majority. For constitutionalist Benjamin Morel, Attal is the symbol of a “more offensive strategy ahead of the European elections” in June.
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It remains to be determined whether the remodeling of the Executive will be extensive. Officials close to Macron are betting on cutting the government team, which today has 39 members.
The left, for its part, has demanded that Attal’s appointment be subject to a confidence vote in Parliament “as in all democracies”.