Emmanuel Macron appoints France's youngest prime minister to oxygenate his mandate

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, appointed the popular and young head of Education, Gabriel Attal, as prime minister this Tuesday, with the aim of relaunch his mandate in a crucial year marked by the European elections and the Olympic Games.

(Also: Cold and unexpected snow cause traffic problems in northern France)

Attal, who at 34 became the youngest French prime minister and the first openly homosexual, will have the challenge of stopping the rise of the extreme right in France and preventing his coming to power in 2027.

To do this, the future tenant of Matignon will have to promote the “industrial, economic, European” and also “civic” rearmament, which the 46-year-old centrist president promised on December 31 to boost his second term.

(You can read: France is looking for Colombians who want to study and vacation: this is how it applies)

“I know that I can count on your energy and your commitment to implement the rearmament and regeneration project that I announced,” Macron wrote on the social network X in a message addressed to his new head of government.

The most popular figure in the government succeeds Élisabeth Borne, 62, who resigned the day before after Macron indicated that he wanted to appoint a new prime minister, as he wrote in his resignation letter.

Her 20 months as head of a government without an absolute majority in Parliament were marked by political tensionsuch as during the pension reform imposed by decree, and an episode of urban unrest in mid-2023.

(Keep reading: French National Assembly approves the controversial immigration law: what is it about?)

However, the approval in December of an immigration reform, which the government toughened to obtain the support of the right, divided and paralyzed the ruling party, especially when the extreme right celebrated the “ideological victory” of the law.

'We are not going to negotiate'

With an image of a “good student”, Gabriel Attal, whose political career began in the Socialist Party before joining Macron's ranks in 2016, also embodies the right-wing nature of the centrist president's politics.

During his six months at the head of the important Ministry of Education, he defended a school of “rights and duties”, banned the abaya – a garment worn by Muslim women – and said it was open to experimenting with the use of uniforms.

This son of a film producer and former student of the elitist Alsatian School in Paris also announced the return of repeaters or the introduction of level groups for French and Mathematics classes in secondary school.

(You can read: Bolivia accepts help from France and Chile for its fight against forest fires)

His dazzling political rise – from Secretary of State in 2018 to Prime Minister, passing through government spokesperson, head of Public Accounts and Education – is reminiscent of that of Macron, who became president in 2017 at the age of 39.

“Youth, his popularity in public opinion and the real or supposed ability to lead the government's campaign for the European elections” decided his appointment, indicated a source close to the executive.

Attacks

With 19% voting intention, according to an OpinionWay poll in mid-December, the ruling alliance has a tough task to catch up with the party of the right-wing Marine Le Pen (27%) in the European Parliament elections in June.

Attal's designation is an “offensive” election in the face of these elections, but it could “not help” maintain the fragile unity of the ruling party, according to expert Benjamin Morel.

Macron's centrist alliance lost its absolute majority in the 2022 legislative elections and has since had to turn to the support of the right-wing opposition to pass its key reforms, straining the ruling party's left wing.

(Also read: Macron highlights the 'extremely reduced' human balance given Ciarán's virulence)

“This will not solve the problem of the majority, nor the main problem of what is the main direction” of the second term of the current head of state, which ends in 2027, warned political scientist Bruno Cautrès.

Attal's appointment reinforces his eventual desire to run as Macron's successor in 2027, as they also want other figures from the ruling party such as ministers Bruno Le Maire and Gérald Darmanin, and former prime minister Edouard Philippe, according to observers.

Macron's centrist and center-right allies have already expressed doubts about the young politician's choice. The final balance and future direction of the government will be known in the coming days when its composition is known.

AFP