Translated by Angela Tagliafierro
Gabriel Attal
After the resignation of Elisabeth Borne, dating back to January 08th 2024, due to an instable parliamentary majority, Macron had to choose a substitute for his executive: his choice fell on Gabriel Attal, who is not only the youngest Prime Minister elected in the story of the French Republic, being thirty-four years old, but also the first Prime Minister declared as homosexual. As a matter of fact, he is married to the European deputy Stéphane Séjourné.
Who is Gabriel Attal?
Born in 1989, he grew up in a French wealthy family who allowed him to study and live in exclusive environments. In the last years, Attal led on a real political rise which brought him to perform his duties as Prime Minister.
His career starts back in 2006 when, very young, Attal became a member of the socialist party. After a short period, next to the Minister of Social Affairs and Health Marisol Touraine, in 2016 he moves to Macron’s party, accessing the Parliament in 2017.
Particularly appreciated by the French President, maybe more for the similarities between them that many times has been highlighted, Attal performs several duties. Firstly, he works as the Government’s spokesperson; this way, he acquires many popular consent thanks to his appearance and his dialectic skills. Later, for a short time, he was Minister of Finance and then Minister of the Education. During the last mandate, three of his political ideas have been discussed and carried out.
The first one is based on the secularity of French schools and goes pari passu with the implementation of the prohibition of religious clothes. In particular, the abolishment of the abaya, an item worn by Muslim women, has been discussed, provoking a strong popular debate.
Furthermore, defining himself as a victim of bullying, he carried out a strong campaign against it during his mandate.
Finally, Attal led on a reform of the school system after that the result of research carried out by the Institute of Pisa showed the weak points of the French schools. However, this reformation does not seem to solve the lack of the staff and the minimum wage, considered as the true problems of the school system.
Later, face to the strike of the students for the school reform, Attal defined them with the epithet of “bourgeois-bohemian”, as reported by The Guardian.
In 2018, the current Prime Minister supported the necessity for the French society to leave the “strike culture”, referring to the protest carried out by the staff of the National Train Company in the same year.
So, the new Prime Minister is surely known as a debated person. In spite Attal’s politics are very often discussed, his young age and his fresh appearance made their way through the French media, becoming an appreciated figure in the country.
This is the reason Macron chose him as Prime Minister. As a matter of fact, after losing approval in the country, the French President seems to need to refer to another trusted person to carry out his political ideas and keep the popular consent. As a proof, the idea that Attal may replace Macron when his presidential mandate ends in 2027 is already spread.
Last but not the least, this choice is fundamental for the next European election, which will be held in June 2024.
Mondo Internazionale APS - Riproduction Reserved ® 2024