The president and his Prime Minister stick together for Attal’s tumultuous debut at Matignon. Macron keeps a vigilant eye on his heir apparent.
Attal’s debut at Matignon was off to a flying start. Barely arrived, the new Prime Minister must provide answers to the anger of farmers, five months of European elections which are shaking Macronie. The context of his appointment was itself scabrous: his government had to give new impetus to the five-year term after the explosive episode of the immigration law. So many issues for which the Elysée maintains a eye on the young tenant of Matignon.
“With a view to transmission”
The president and the head of government have thus established close collaboration, indicate several sources at Point. “The crisis is accelerating things,” we confirm at the Elysée. The two men also got into the habit of meeting every Monday morning at 9 a.m., in addition to the traditional weekly lunch at the Elysée.
Emmanuel Macron reread Gabriel Attal’s general policy declaration several times, “as is customary”, before he delivered it to the Assembly on January 30. The speech given to the farmers on Friday January 26 was also “co-constructed” by the two men. Thus, Macron may have left his Prime Minister in the forefront to manage the crisis, while he traveled abroad, he nonetheless kept one hand on the file.
Is Attal under surveillance? “Above all not!”, however, they say at the Château, assuring that the president is “in a transmission perspective” with his Prime Minister: “It’s very fluid and we are in ‘kitten mode’ between the Élysée and Matignon.