The new members of the Attal government must meet for their first Council of Ministers this Friday, January 12. The casting shift to the right with the retention of Le Maire or Darmanin and the appointment of Dati or Vautrin continues to arouse criticism against which the Prime Minister defends himself.
The essential
- After the reshuffle, Gabriel Attal’s government gets to work this Friday, January 12 with a first Council of Ministers scheduled for 11 a.m. The transfer of power of new ministers is organized in the morning.
- 14 ministers were appointed by the Secretary General of the Elysée on Thursday evening, the appointment of the Secretaries of State must be done at a later stage, probably next week.
- At the end of the reshuffle, the reduced government respects parity but is made up of men in all sovereign positions Éric Dupond-Moretti (Justice), Gérald Darmanin (Interior), Bruno Le Maire (Economy) and Sébastien Lecornu (Armies) , Stéphane Séjourné (Foreign Affairs). The composition of the new government in detail.
- The new government also marks a turn to the right with the maintenance of heavyweights from the right (Le Maire, Darmanin or Leconru) and the arrival of Catherine Vautrin at Work and Health or Rachida Dati at Culture. The appointment of the mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris is also the big surprise of the reshuffle and would result from an agreement with Emmanuel Macron.
- The double appointment of Amélie Oudéa-Castera who becomes Minister of National Education in addition to remaining Minister of Sports also causes a reaction in the two areas comprising major projects that are difficult to carry out simultaneously: the priority cause of the school and the organization of the Olympic Games.
Live
08:21 – Former right-wingers in the majority in government
The shift to the right made with the reshuffle has not escaped any political commentator. Of the 14 ministers appointed to the Attal government, 8 were members of the UMP or the Republicans and even two of them were ministers under Sarkozy: Rachida Dati was Minister of Justice from 2007 to 2009 and Bruno le Maire sat in Agriculture from 2009 to 2012. The others all had their UMP membership cards like Gérard Darmanin, Catherine Vautrin, Sébastien Lecornu, Christophe Béchu, Aurore Bergé and Marie Lébec. The past of these ministers arouses criticism from the left and the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, has also joked about the renewal of the government on X: “The ‘regeneration’ is therefore that of the Sarkozy dinosaurs”.
08:01 – But before the transfer of power to the program
Before the first gathering of Gabriel Attal’s ministers, transfers of power are organized for the new members of the government to take office. At 9 a.m. Olivier Véran will give way to Prisca Thévenot as spokesperson, at 9:30 a.m. Rima Abdul-Malak will be replaced by Rachida Dati at Culture, Olivier Dussopt will be replaced by Catherine Vautrin at Work at 10 a.m. . Change is also expected at the Quai d’Orsay where Stéphane Séjourné takes over from Catherine Colonna.
07:55 – First Council of Ministers for the new government
Appointed last night, the new government ministers must meet around the tenant of Matignon Gabriel Attal and especially the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, who would have more weight in the composition of the new executive. During this first weekly meeting, the broad outlines of the government roadmap should be presented. The Council of Ministers is scheduled for 11 a.m.
01/11/24 – 11:08 p.m. – Rachida Dati on Culture: the idea came from Macron, Attal warned at the last minute
END OF LIVE – A political coup. This is how we can describe the arrival of Rachida Dati in the government of Gabriel Attal. A real surprise in this reshuffle and which the new Prime Minister would not however be at the origin. The echoes thus assert that it is Emmanuel Macron who, in particular with a view to the European elections, would have himself led the discussions “live”, in passing proposing to Rachida Dati to be the Macronist candidate in Paris in 2026. According to the economic daily , Gabriel Attal would have been presented with a fait accompli, the Élysée having only warned him on this point at the end of the day. Atmosphere.
01/11/24 – 10:14 p.m. – “No woman in a sovereign ministry”, deplores Sandrine Rouseau
This is one of the bitter observations made by many political observers this Thursday evening. All sovereign ministries were assigned to men in the government of Gabriel Attal. “No woman in a sovereign ministry. We are here, fresh, relaxed about the great cause,” reacted the ecologist and feminist Sandrine Rousseau, referring to a famous sentence pronounced by Gérard Depardieu in the film The Valseuses.
01/11/24 – 9:33 p.m. – The new “Sarkozy IV” government mocked by the left
On X (formerly Twitter), the left did not fail to joke about the arrival of several personalities from the right. “Vautrin, Dati, it’s the Sarkozy IV government in fact…”, judged Marine Tondelier, the patron saint of environmentalists. And the communist Fabien Roussel added: “Welcome to the Sarkozy 4 government!” While the socialist Olivier Faure denounced: “Regeneration is therefore that of the Sarkozy dinosaurs. Civic rearmament is therefore the appointment of a minister indicted for influence peddling and corruption.”
01/11/24 – 9:02 p.m. – How does Gabriel Attal plan to govern?
On the set of TF1’s 20 Heures, the new Prime Minister confided that “[s]”The method is to be lucid and to tell the truth.” And Gabriel Attal, who says he is at the head of a government of “sobriety”, “efficiency” and “energy”, explains in detail : “My responsibility is to say what is going well and what is not going well. And for what’s wrong, come up with solutions and implement them quickly.”
01/11/24 – 8:37 p.m. – A very right-wing government?
While political observers were quick to point out the greater number of ministers coming from the right in the new government, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal evaded the question: “I am not here to ask ministers to empty their pockets to show the card of their party. There are personalities who have a right-wing sensibility, others have a left-wing sensibility.”
01/11/24 – 8:31 p.m. – “She is a woman who leaves no one indifferent”, notes Gabriel Attal about Rachida Dati
Surprised by this reshuffle, Gabriel Attal said he was “very happy” with the appointment of Rachida Dati in his government. “She is a woman who leaves no one indifferent, she is a woman of energy”, “of commitment”, he defended, noting that the former Minister of Justice of Nicolas Sarkozy “is is beaten all her life to get what she got. As for his indictment for corruption, the new Prime Minister brushed aside the subject by highlighting the presumption of innocence: “Indictment is not a conviction.”
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Gabriel Attal moves to Matignon
After a week of rumors about the departure of the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne submitted her resignation to Emmanuel Macron at the end of the day on Monday January 8. A departure which does not seem to be wanted by the sixty-year-old but rather driven by the President of the Republic as his resignation letter suggests: “Mr. President of the Republic, you have informed me of your desire to appoint a new Prime Minister”.
Elisabeth Borne having left office, it was the former Minister of National Education who was appointed head of government, Gabriel Attal. At just 34 years old, he became the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic. He got the best of Sébastien Lecornu, Richard Ferrand, and Julien Denormandie, all three mentioned to succeed Élisabeth Borne in the role.