Gabriel Attal was named Tuesday as France’s youngest-ever prime minister, as President Emmanuel Macron seeks a fresh start for the rest of his term amid growing political pressure from the far right.
Attal, 34, rose to prominence as the government spokesman and education minister and had polled as the most popular minister in the outgoing government. He is France’s first openly gay prime minister.
His predecessor Elisabeth Borne resigned Monday following recent political turmoil over an immigration law that strengthens the government’s ability to deport foreigners.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
PARIS (AP) — Gabriel Attal was named Tuesday as France’s youngest-ever prime minister, as President Emmanuel Macron seeks a fresh start for the rest of his term amid growing political pressure from the far right.
The 46-year-old president has shifted rightward on security and migration issues since then, notably as far-right rival Marine Le Pen and her anti-immigration, anti-Islam National Rally have gained political influence.
Attal, a former member of the Socialist Party, joined Macron’s newly created political movement in 2016 and was government spokesperson from 2020 to 2022, a job that made him well-known to the French public.
Attal will face the same obstacle as his predecessor: Macron’s centrists lost their majority in parliament last year, forcing the government into political maneuvering and using special constitutional powers to be able to pass laws.
Borne also faced mass protests last year, often marred by violence, against a law to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, and days of riots across France triggered by the deadly police shooting of a teen.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who championed the immigration bill, said Tuesday he was ready to continue his work at the head of the country’s police forces especially as the Paris Olympics are to start in less than 200 days, with major security issues at stake.
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The French PM is now younger than I am 🙃
Good! We need more young people in politics. As climate change becomes an increasingly present issue, I want world leaders to have some real skin in the game, rather than just getting to ignore the consequences for the next 10-20 years before they die.
Oh, I’m with you there, absolutely. I’m just whinging because it makes me feel old lol
I think he was fed with a silver spoon tho
Yesterday Attal was 52, though.
He’s also a lot more handsome than I am 🙃
Worth noting that he was previously minister of education while having never set foot in a public school, and that he obviously comes from a very wealthy family. But the oppression is gay, I guess.
Money doesn’t make hate go away. But it is disappointing that rich connected people seem to be the only ones who get elected.
