“Emmanuel Macron was 39 when he shattered the French political system that year to become the youngest president in French history. Gabriel Attal, a loyal ally of the president since joining the campaign Macron in 2016, will be 38 years old by the time of the next presidential election in April 2027 and will likely become a presidential candidate if his term is successful.” The parallel is posed very directly by the American daily THE New York Timesfollowing the appointment of Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister this Tuesday, January 9.
As in France, the resignation of Elisabeth Borne was widely expected in the foreign press. The Spanish daily El Periodico points out that the now former Prime Minister seemed “particularly worn out to face the period preceding the European elections, on June 9, which promise to be difficult for Macronism”. While The Economist called the ejection “abrupt but not very surprising.”
The profile of Gabriel Attal, who at 34 became the youngest Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic, is nevertheless much more intriguing. “Mini-Macron” for The Economist“Baby-Macron” for The Guardiantwo British media, the Spanish newspaper El País even describes him as a “political child prodigy”. The former Minister of National Education is for his part seen by the New York Times as “a very adaptable politician, like the president.”
“An antagonistic style”
A possible change in the way of governing is also expected. The Spanish newspaper El Periodico highlights “a style antagonistic to that of the second woman to have led a government in the history of France”, pointing out that the post of Prime Minister was moving from “a more technocratic style focused on management like that of Borne, to that of a skillful and ambitious communicator like that of the new Prime Minister”.
The Swiss newspaper The weathera keen observer of French political life, sees for his part a “consecration for the new star of French politics, who is even managing to surpass his master, Emmanuel Macron, in terms of precocity […] The rise is dazzling. And surprising at this level.” Even if the Swiss daily also points out the “Parisianism” of the new head of the French government, describing him as “Prime Minister of two districts“. The Economist also highlights the “clear rejuvenation of French politics”, with the figure of Jordan Bardella for the National Rally, aged 28, but also of Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Attal who have a “combined age lower than that of the ‘American Joe Biden.’
An important element also comes up in many Anglo-Saxon media: the assumed homosexuality of Gabriel Attal, who will become “the first openly homosexual man to occupy this position, making him one of the most eminent and most prominent LGBT politicians.” most powerful in the world”, says the American media CNN.
A “political offensive”
The reasons for this choice nevertheless seem quite unanimous to the foreign press: to succeed in revitalizing a mandate which has so far failed to take off. The German daily newspaper of reference Der Spiegel wants to see in this appointment an “attempt to go on the offensive on the political level”. The liberal British business media The Financial Times judges that “Macron seems to be betting that Attal’s charisma will help him turn the page on a difficult period marked by parliamentary battles over immigration and an unpopular pension reform last year.”
The British newspaper The Guardianmore left-centeralso recalls that this government upheaval “comes five months before the elections to the European Parliament, where Eurosceptics are expected to record record gains at a time when public discontent is widespread in the face of the rising cost of living and the inability of European governments to curb immigration.”
“Macron wants new momentum without making a new substantive offer”
Several media outlets, however, do not hide their reluctance in the face of this change of Prime Minister which will not upset Emmanuel Macron’s main impasse since 2022: his relative majority in the National Assembly. The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung describes in this change of government a “headlong flight” by the President of the Republic. Still across the Rhine, the centrist-oriented weekly Die Zeit also pulls no punches, explaining that “Macron wants new momentum without making a new substantive offer”, mocking that we “do not yet even know what laws will be debated this year” in France.
“If France is by no means in crisis – its economy has proven relatively resilient despite inflationary pressures and the influx of foreign investment – it has sometimes seemed to be in a rather characteristic slump, politically paralyzed, sharply divided and governable with a intermittent recourse” in article 49.3, finally emphasizes THE New York Times. Many challenges which will present themselves to Gabriel Attal and which will therefore resemble those which Elisabeth Borne had to face for almost a year and a half. With for the former prefect, less political ambition.