A 34-year-old Education Minister Gabriel Attal has been appointed as the new prime minister of France.
French President Emmanuel
Macron announced the appointment on Tuesday
Macron said he appointed Attal
as the Prime Minister because he's, seeking to breathe new life into his second
mandate ahead of European parliament electionss
The move will not necessarily
lead to any major political shift, but signals a desire for Macron to try to move
beyond last year's unpopular pension and immigration reforms and improve his
centrist party's chances in the June EU ballot.
Opinion polls show Macron's
camp trailing far-right leader Marine Le Pen's party by around eight to ten
percentage points.
Attal, a close Macron ally who
became a household name as government spokesman during the COVID pandemic, will
replace outgoing Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
One of the country's most
popular politicians in recent opinion polls, Attal has made a name for himself
as a savvy minister, at ease on radio shows and in parliament.
"Dear
@GabrielAttal, I know I can count on your energy and your commitment to
implement the project of revitalisation and regeneration that I
announced," said Macron, who at the end of last year said he would announce
new political initiatives.
Attal
will be France's youngest prime minister and the first to be openly gay.
He
and Macron have a combined age just below that of Joe Biden, who is running for
a second mandate in this year's U.S. presidential election.
Macron
has struggled to deal with a more turbulent parliament since losing his
absolute majority shortly after being reelected 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 Jordan Bardella, the 28-year old leader of Le Pen's National Rally party.
"Instead,
he risks taking the short-lived Education Minister with him in his fall."
Other
opposition leaders were quick to say they did not expect much from the change
in prime minister, with Macron himself taking on much of the decision-making.
"Elisabeth
Borne, Gabriel Attal or someone else, I don't care, it will just be the same
policies," Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure told France Inter radio.
But
MP Patrick Vignal, who belongs to Macron's Renaissance party, said Attal is
"a bit like the Macron of 2017", referring to the point at which the
President first took office as the youngest leader in modern French history, at
the time a popular figure among voters.
Attal
"is clear, he has authority", Vignal said.
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