Paris: French Education Minister Mr. Gabriel Attal has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of France. This move by President Mr. Emmanuel Macron before the parliament elections may not necessarily lead to any major political shift, but signals Mr. Macron’s desire to attempt to move beyond last year’s unpopular pension and immigration reforms.
The reform may improve the chances of the Centrist Party, led by Mr. Macron in the June EU ballot. The opinion polls show a difference of around eight to ten percentage points between the leading far right politician, Mr. Marine Le Pen’s party and trailing Mr. Macron’s party.
Mr. Attal had become a household name as a government spokesman during the COVID pandemic. The close ally of Mr. Macron, will replace outgoing Prime Minister Ms. Elisabeth Borne.
Mr. Attal has marked himself as a savvy minister, at ease on radio shows and in parliament. It aided him in becoming one of the country’s most popular politicians in recent opinion polls,
Mr. Macron had said about the announcement of new political innovations earlier. One among them was revealed with “Dear @GabrielAttal, I know I can count on your energy and your commitment to implement the project of revitalisation and regeneration that I announced.”
Mr. Attal will be the youngest and the first openly gay Prime Minister in France. Mr. Macron and Mr. Atal have a combined age just below that of Mr. Joe Biden, who is running for a second mandate in the US presidential election this year.
Mr. Macron has struggled to deal with a more turbulent parliament after losing his absolute majority soon after getting re-elected in 2022.
“By appointing Gabriel Attal … Emmanuel Macron wants to cling to his popularity in opinion polls to alleviate the pain of an interminable end to his reign,” said Mr. Jordan Bardella, the leader of Le Pen’s National Rally party.
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Other opposition leaders were quick to opine that they are not expecting much from the change in Prime Minister as much of the decision-making is done by Mr. Macron himself.
Socialist Party leader, Mr. Olivier Faure told sources that “Elisabeth Borne, Gabriel Attal or someone else, I don’t care, it will just be the same policies.” But MP Mr. Patrick Vignal, a member of Macron’s party, said that Mr. Attal is “a bit like the Macron of 2017.”
Mr. Vingal, referred to as the point President, first took office as the youngest leader in modern French history. Mr. Macron was a popular figure among voters at that time. Mr. Vignal, also added that “Mr. Atal is very clear and he has authority.”