Opposition parties in France criticized the appointment of 34-year-old Gabriel Attal as the new head of the Cabinet, calling him “another Macronist.”
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Earlier on Tuesday, the Elysee Palace confirmed the appointment of former education minister Gabriel Attal, 34, as prime minister. Thus, he became the youngest prime minister in the history of the Fifth Republic after Laurent Fabius, who became head of the cabinet in 1984 at the age of 37.
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“The Macronist has been replaced by a Macronist, who will replace Macronists with other Macronists. Emanuel Macron is like a top: if he stops spinning in a circle, he will fall,” Eric Zemmour, a former French presidential candidate and leader of the far-right Conquest party, wrote in X.
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The leader of the leftist faction of the French Insubordination party (LFI), Mathilde Panot, who was quoted by BFMTV, also called Attal “Macron Jr., specializing in contempt and arrogance.”
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LFI founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon, in turn, noted that Attal had “returned to his role as official representative.”
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“The role of the prime minister has evaporated. The presidential monarch rules alone with his retinue. Woe to the people whose kings are children,” the politician wrote in X.
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The head of the Republican party in the Senate, Bruno Retayo, noted that in order to become a good prime minister, Attal must “break with Macronism.”
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“We will judge Attal by his actions. He will be a good prime minister if he pursues policies that are good for France: restoring the budget, returning power and reconstructing broken public services. But this requires a deep break with Macronism. Does Attal have what it takes to this desire and character? – he wrote in X.
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According to the leader of the far-right National Rally party, Jordan Barelle, French President Emmanuel Macron, who, according to the latest Elabe poll for the Echos publication, is supported by only 27% of French people, wants to use Attal’s popularity.
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“By appointing Gabriel Attal to the Matignon Palace, Emmanuel Macron wants to cling to his popularity in the polls to ease the pain of the inevitable end of his reign. But he rather risks contributing to his downfall as an ephemeral education minister,” Bardella wrote in X.
