“Almost always, in politics, the outcome is contrary to prediction.” Bruno Le Maire, the writer, the politician, knows this phrase from Chateaubriand, one of his favorite authors, of whom he says he likes to read and reread “Les Mémoires d’Outre-tombe”. Did he have them in mind when he wrote his congratulatory note to the new Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal? A tweet published at midday, embellished with a photo of the two men, two fellow ministers, side by side, well not quite: the tenant of Bercy slightly in the foreground and his hand on the shoulder of his new pack leader. “Congratulations dear Gabriel Attal! I have no doubt about the commitment and the strength that you will put in the service of the French. I am happy for you. Respect and friendship.”
Do you see that you read it wrong? To hell with protocol! Here is the Minister of the Economy, after six years in this position, who addresses the new head of government on familiar terms without calling him “Mr. Prime Minister”. Do you see that you saw wrong? This paternalistic hand, of a politician proud of more than twenty years of political experience, placed on the shoulder of the one who is now the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the Fifth Republic, Gabriel Attal who will blow his 35 candles next March. Being led by your younger brother, what a funny idea. We see evil everywhere, but in politics it always hides in the details and interstices of the sentences that those concerned choose to show.
A duel is more than a delay
So let’s see what there is to see… The press release from the Élysée announcing the new tenant of Matignon should have been released on Monday evening, around 7 p.m. If we had to wait until the next day, Tuesday January 9 at midday, it was because behind the scenes Bruno Le Maire was one of those, with Gérald Darmanin, Édouard Philippe and François Bayrou, to thunder against the idea of seeing Gabriel Attal takes over from Élisabeth Borne. One more contender in this ball of successors, and not the least: in the Elabe barometer of political figures, published in THE Echoes and published at the beginning of the year, Gabriel Attal sees his popularity improve, ahead of his nemesis Jordan Bardella (and Marine Le Pen), ahead of Le Maire and Darmanin and a little behind Édouard Philippe.
Did Bruno Le Maire have any interest in continuing to wage war against Emmanuel Macron’s choice? In a 2017 interview with Parisien Magazine, he said that if he had to be the hero of a novel, he would be Michel Strogoff. At the heart of his quest to warn the Tsar, the character of Jules Verne almost fights with a traveler, saber at his belt. “A duel was more than a delay, it was perhaps his failed mission,” writes the author. “It was better to lose a few hours!” The minister didn’t have any more time. A tweet and a funny photo were enough at that moment.