Emmanuel Macron “irritated by the activism” of Gabriel Attal. Relations are strained between the Élysée and Matignon even if the young Prime Minister makes it a point of honor to recall that he remains faithful to the President, to whom “he owes everything”.
The farmers’ crisis has revealed some discrepancies between Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Attal. While the President suffered boos and disorder during his visit to the Agricultural Show on Saturday February 24, the Prime Minister’s visit, three days later, took place peacefully. “Gabriel Attal went much faster than Emmanuel Macron on the subject,” explains Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet, specialist in political communication, in the columns of The Dispatch. The Prime Minister was much more agile, more credible and much better received by farmers.”
The youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic, who was to represent the principle of renewal in this second five-year term of Emmanuel Macron, succeeded perfectly in this, particularly in the management of agricultural anger. Perhaps too much for the Élysée which leaked that “the President is starting to be irritated by the activism of his young minister”, according to the words of a close friend of the head of state relayed in The gallery. A first sign that relationships are deteriorating.
Structural tensions
According to those close to the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal did not intend to make up the numbers when arriving at this post. He “wants to enjoy every moment”, therefore intends to make his mark: “true words” and “action”, reports The world. Especially since he knows that his appointment is for a fixed term if the President, to whom he “owes everything”, decides. However, “at no time should we be found lacking in loyalty to the president”, theorizes those around Gabriel Attal, according to the daily. So, when he has the opportunity, the tenant of Matignon recalls that he walks hand in hand with Emmanuel Macron. “The policy that I carry, the commitments that I have made, these are my commitments, my measures, but also those of the President of the Republic. We act together,” he declared during his visit to Agricultural centreremember The world.
The tensions between the Élysée and Matignon would in any case be structural. “A president and a head of government may like each other, they will always end up receiving the tensions of their administrations and end up shouldering them”, specifies Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet, specialist in political communication, in the columns of The Dispatch.