(Paris) The new French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal set about forming his future government on Wednesday, the day after his appointment by the President of the Republic, intended to breathe new life into a stalled mandate.
Having become the youngest Prime Minister of France at 34, Mr. Attal, short-lived Minister of Education, must now compose a government team under the sign of “rearmament” and “regeneration” desired by President Emmanuel Macron, and which will face significant challenges in 2024.
In particular, he will have to go into battle against the far right, which is at the top of the polls, during the European elections in June. Another major issue: the organization of the Olympic Games which will take place in France from July 26 to August 11.
The most popular personality in the government and the presidential majority – one in two French people have a favorable opinion – Gabriel Attal, who succeeds Élisabeth Borne, also becomes the first openly gay French head of government.
The one who sees himself as a symbol of “audacity” and “movement”, often presented as a “new Macron”, promised to “keep control (of) the destiny” of the country and to “liberate (the) French potential “.
After a first trip, in the wake of his appointment, to Pas-de-Calais (north) affected by floods, Gabriel Attal must now find a difficult balance within the majority. The new government could be announced on Thursday, or by the end of the week, according to presidential sources.
Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Attal have “the desire to move quickly knowing that the exercise is by definition unpredictable”, the presidential entourage said.
Almost certainty of the casting, Gérald Darmanin should remain at the Ministry of the Interior. “Gérald Darmanin had an exchange with the president who reiterated his confidence in him,” AFP learned Tuesday evening from a source close to the minister. Once mentioned, the possibility of landing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs therefore seems to have been ruled out.
Rumors and uncertainties
The current head of diplomacy Catherine Colonna, former ambassador to the United Kingdom, is however still waiting to be decided on her fate, while rumors suggest the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde to replace her, without certainty at this stage.
The future of Finance and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, the only high-ranking minister to remain in office since Macron’s election in 2017, also remains uncertain, with advisers wondering behind the scenes whether he will working under the authority of his former Secretary of State Gabriel Attal.
Questions also remain about the future of government spokesperson Olivier Véran and Transport Minister Clément Beaune.
The latter, like several ministers from the left wing of the Macron, had confided his unease at the turn to the right made during the recent vote on a controversial law on immigration, upsetting Emmanuel Macron.
Gabriel Attal will also have to find a successor at the Ministry of National Education, which he only held for five months. He assured Tuesday that the “cause of the school” would remain the “mother of our battles”.
His appointment has in any case raised some teeth internally within the outgoing government, particularly among those who aspire to succeed Emmanuel Macron and are observing with concern the meteoric rise of the young prime minister.
In France, the Head of State sets in principle the main orientations of the five-year term. The prime minister, responsible for implementing the program and the day-to-day management of the government, generally assumes the consequences of any turbulence.
However, the head of government will face the same difficulties as the one who preceded him in office, Élisabeth Borne: difficulties to reform in the absence of an absolute majority in the National Assembly and the presidential camp fractured by the immigration law.
Above all, with the European elections of June 9 in his sights, Gabriel Attal will be judged on his ability to reduce the gap, significant according to the polls, between the list of the majority and that of the National Rally, on the far right, given largely winning and led by another ambitious young political leader, Jordan Bardella.