During his general policy speech on Tuesday, Gabriel Attal said he wanted to “debureaucratize”, “unlock” the economy and “de-emcardize” France. But throughout his speech, the Prime Minister above all highlighted the theme of authority.
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Gabriel Attal had made authority his trademark during his brief stint at the Ministry of National Education. It has become his leitmotif at Matignon. This theme of authority served as a common thread in his speech on Tuesday January 30 to the National Assembly.
She first covered the sovereign subject of security, including the intensification of the fight against drug trafficking, “ten net transactions per week”, “freezing of assets of identified traffickers”. Then the Prime Minister returned to the theme of immigration, with the confirmation of an upcoming reform of state medical aid (AME), a commitment made to the right in December. He also guaranteed the sending of police reinforcements for the “border force” which controls illegal immigrants at the Italian border. And then, authority always and even “civic rearmament” of youth, with the repeated promise to generalize universal national service or the establishment of “work of educational interest” for offenders under 16, a response to last summer’s riots.
Respond to the times and appear as leader of the majority
If Gabriel Attal adopts this posture, it is because it fits the spirit of the times, the expectations of public opinion. In all surveys, a majority of French people demand more order and respect. Gabriel Attal worked to translate this request into daily life, with formulas targeting incivility – “You break, you repair, you dirty, you clean” – Or “When you don’t come to a doctor’s appointment without warning, you pay!” Then, this, let’s say, repressive inflection corresponds to the new age of macronism, this new period of the second five-year term which is based on a government which clearly leans to the right. Finally, because placing his reign at Matignon under the sign of the return of authority, it is also a way for the Prime Minister to assert himself as leader of the majority.
The promotion of the young, very young Gabriel Attal, did not rejoice all the government heavyweights. By preempting the theme of authority, he seeks to impose his own on his troops and first on the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin. When we want to embody a new momentum, while the same head of state has been in power for seven years, we inevitably carry the implicit criticism of the record of our superior. This strong stance is one way to counter this problem. Unless this subliminal distancing serves the purposes of the young ambitious Matignon. Spokesperson for the Head of State, loyal Gabriel Attal thus outlines the contours of the post-Macron era.