Her austere and no-nonsense demeanour won respect from colleagues but not necessarily popularity from the public, whereas Attal is the most popular figure in government after his stint at the politically crucial education ministry…reports Asian Lite News
In a new momentum to French leader Emmanuel Macron’s presidency, Gabriel Atta was picked as the youngest prime minister of France on Tuesday. With the latest move, the 34-year-old has become France’s youngest and first openly gay head of government.
Late on Monday, Macron accepted former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne’s resignation, after several days of speculation regarding the same.
The 62-year old stepped down from the position along with the rest of the government after serving for less than two years in office. A presidential statement said, “The president of the republic appointed Mr Gabriel Attal prime minister, and tasked him with forming a government.”
Following the announcement, Macron took to X and said, “I know I can count on your energy and your commitment.” This comes ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris and European parliament elections this summer where Macron’s centrist forces risk defeat at the hands of the far-right under Marine Le Pen.
As Macron looks forward to strengthen his team for the final three years of his presidency, a wider cabinet reshuffle is expected this week. Attal is set to to bring a major change of style to the office of the prime minister following Borne, only the second woman to lead the French government.
Her austere and no-nonsense demeanour won respect from colleagues but not necessarily popularity from the public, whereas Attal is the most popular figure in government after his stint at the politically crucial education ministry.
Borne’s resignation letter to Macron hinted that she would have preferred to stay in her job. In the letter she wrote, “While I must present the resignation of my government, I wanted to tell you how passionate I was about this mission.”
The reshuffle has been viewed as commentators as an essential move to relaunch Macron’s centrist presidency for its last three years and prevent him becoming a “lame duck” leader after a series of crises.
The new head of government will be the fourth prime minister since 2017 under Macron, who is accused by critics of micro-managing and centralising power in the Elysee.
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