Macron appoints France's youngest prime minister to relaunch his mandate
French President Emmanuel Macron appointed the popular young Education Minister Gabriel Attal as prime minister on Tuesday, with the aim of relaunching his mandate in a crucial year marked by the European elections and the Olympic Games.
Attal, who at 34 became France's youngest prime minister and the first openly gay prime minister, will face the challenge of halting the rise of the extreme right in France and preventing it from coming to power in 2027.
To do so, the future tenant of Matignon will have to push for the "industrial, economic, European" and also "civic" rearmament, which the 46-year-old centrist president promised on 31 December to boost his second term in office.
"I know I can count on your energy and your commitment to implement the project of rearmament and regeneration that I announced," Macron wrote on the social network X in a message 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 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 tension, such as during the pension reform imposed by decree, and an episode of urban unrest in mid-2023.
However, the approval in December of an immigration reform, which the government toughened to gain right-wing support, divided and paralysed the ruling party, especially as the far right celebrated the law's "ideological victory".
"Good pupil"
With an image of a "good pupil", Gabriel Attal, whose political career began in the Socialist Party before joining Macron's ranks in 2016, also embodies the right-wingisation of the centrist president's policies.
During his six months at the helm of the key Education Ministry, he championed a school of "rights and duties", banned the abaya - a garment worn by Muslim women - and said he was open to experimenting with uniforms.
The son of a film producer and former pupil of the elite Alsatian School in Paris, he also announced the return of repeaters or the introduction of level groups for French and maths classes in secondary schools.
His meteoric political rise -- from secretary of state in 2018 to prime minister, via government spokesman, head of public accounts and education -- is reminiscent of that of Macron, who became president in 2017 at the age of 39.
"His youth, his popularity in public opinion and his real or supposed ability to lead the government's campaign for the European elections" were the deciding factors in his appointment, a source close to the government said.
"Offensive" election
With a 19% share of the vote, according to an OpinionWay poll in mid-December, the ruling alliance has a tough task to catch up with the party of the far-right Marine Le Pen (27%) in the European Parliament elections in June.
Attal's appointment is an "offensive" choice ahead of these elections, but may "not help" to maintain the ruling party's fragile unity, according to expert Benjamin Morel.
Macron's centrist alliance lost its absolute majority in the 2022 legislative elections and has since had to rely on the support of the right-wing opposition to pass its key reforms, straining the ruling left wing.
"This will not solve the problem of the majority, nor the main problem of what is the main course" of the current head of state's second term, 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 other ruling figures such as ministers Bruno Le Maire and Gérald Darmanin, and former prime minister Edouard Philippe also want, observers say.
Macron's centrist and centre-right allies have already expressed their 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.