Gabriel Attar has been called "Little Macron" because of his ambitions, strong influence and centrist political positions. *urman lionel/abaca/rex/shutterstock
Emmanuel Macron recently appointed the youngest prime minister in French history - Gabriel Attar. The move is intended to breathe new life into his second term and limit the potential growth of far-right forces in Europe coming in June.
The 34-year-old Attar, who previously served as education minister, has been called "Little Macron" by many because of the ambition, strong influence and centrist political stance he shares with Macron. He is one of the most recognizable and recognizable figures in the circle of young politicians around Macron.
Not only is Atar France's first openly gay prime minister, but he also maintains a civil partnership with Macron-led Baath Party MEP member Stefan Sejone. He himself considers Macron's appointment a bold move. "The youngest in history is appointing the youngest prime minister in history," he said. I see this as a bold sign. He pledged to "unleash France's potential."
Attar said he would form a new ** in the coming days and advance Macron's pro-business policies that he described as promoting the transformation of the French economy, while focusing on the younger generation and the education sector.
In his speech, he said: "I am very aware of my work background. In France, many people have doubts about the country, themselves and even our future. What he had in mind was "the laborers who get up and go to work every day......Sometimes it is difficult for them to earn a living. ”
A source at the Élysée Palace pointed out that Atal's appointment symbolizes the young "Macron generation" and is a move to return to the basic principles of centrist politics. But the source also mentioned that the appointment of Atal as prime minister is aimed at "fighting populism", which was prevalent in France before the European summit in June. Macron's party lags behind Marine Le Pen's far-right party National League in the polls.
Jordan Bardera, 28, president of the Perikatan Nasional and known for his heated televised debates with Mr. Attar, sees Mr. Macron's move as an attempt to use Mr. Attar's popularity to boost his popularity in the polls and ease the woes of his declining rule.
During his five months as Minister of Education, Attar was a staunch defender of authority and secularism, and he not only forbade public school girls from wearing abaya, (Note: Abaya, sometimes referred to as aba, is a simple, loose-fitting tunic that is essentially a robe-like garment worn by some women in parts of the Muslim world.) There is also an attempt to introduce a uniform system. This series of measures led to a sharp rise in his approval rating in the polls, making him one of the most popular ministers within the country.
Macron said on platform X that he appreciates Attar's dynamism and involvement, and hopes to use it to revive the spirit of 2017, the year in which Macron was elected for the first time and promised to overhaul French politics. Since his re-election in 2022, Macron has lost his absolute majority in the elections, resulting in his second term being influenced by the parliament of **.
Attar previously served as budget minister and was widely known as a spokesperson during the pandemic. He is known for his political communication skills and is considered a calm and cautious spokesman. Although he has sometimes taken a hard line in political televised debates with the far right, he believes that dialogue with the hearts and minds of the people is extremely important. He spoke out about being bullied at school and won many supporters.
In his New Year's address, Macron proposed that, in addition to his long-standing goal of full employment, he wants a so-called "civil rearmament" to restore authority and resist what he sees as the collapse of civilization and society.
Although Attar was a centrist member of the Left Socialist Party, he dropped out in his 20s and supported Macron's centrist project in 2017. He was seen as an important representative of French centrist politics. In recent months, he has also made contact with lawmakers from the right-wing Republican party, whose support is crucial to the passage of legislation.
Macron's decision to remove former Prime Minister Elisabeth Bornet and reshuffle ** is not seen as a fundamental political shift. Baath Party's parliamentary leader, Sylvain Mayar, said Atal was able to "faithfully" carry out Macron's national plan.
Macron is trying to shake off the woes of the past year, including unpopular pension reforms and the recent introduction of tough immigration laws, policies that have sparked divisions within the party and are seen by some as an ideological victory for Le Pen and radical right-wing ideas. In response, Le Pen criticized: "What can the French expect from the fourth prime minister and the fifth in these seven years? "It believes that the French people have no expectations for the current situation.
The 34-year-old Atal is about to face the challenge of Marine Le Pen's protégé. Today's Macron is a man who is considered to have missed a good opportunity, and his situation is quite similar to that of Joe Biden:While his political record is not bad, the enthusiasm that propelled him to the Élysée Palace in 2017 has turned into widespread discontent.
Macron's outgoing Prime Minister Elisabeth Bornet has repeatedly resorted to an extremely unpopular constitutional measure - Article 493 to pass laws without a clear legislative majority (including the controversial pension reform). This act has exacerbated public discontent with Macron. This clause, which was supposed to be a last resort, was abused by France as a regular practice.
This week Macron appointed 34-year-old Gabriel Atal as the new prime minister, butThere is widespread questioning whether this move is too late.
Under the leadership of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the French left has chosen to become an increasingly staunch opposition, while at the same time, Macron's ** is leaning to the right. In stark contrast, Bernie Sanders and others of the US Democratic Party have chosen to stay within the Biden camp and influence everything from industrial policy to climate policy.
Even if some on the left, Attar is as cunning as Macron, who is skeptical of his true position, the appointment of him as prime minister at least shows that Macron acknowledges that following the far right is a political failure – both for the country and for his own coalition. Eighteen months ago, however, Macron did have the opportunity to breathe new life into his own ** term by enlisting the support of the center-left by nominating a young, left-liberal, environmentally capable successor.
At the moment, Rafael Glucksman, 44, a center-left, pro-European, anti-Mélenchon politician who looks more representative of this group, has a platform aimed squarely at the kind of voters who waved European flags in front of the Louvre pyramid in 2017 to celebrate Macron's victory.
At the other extreme, the real danger is not that Marine Le Pen herself will surf the national discontent, but that her protégé, 28-year-old Jordan Bardera, takes advantage of her young face and non-"Le Pen" surname to break the remaining taboo of far-right national rallies.
In this context, former Socialist Party member and gay Attar is not only a big hit in recent opinion polls, he is also the ideal candidate for the upcoming European Parliament electionsYoung against young.
If Attar can secure a majority in parliament like Borne, his influence will go beyond that of June. Macron's party has never really become a political force beyond Macron's personal influence, in part because Macron's ubiquity in politics has hindered its development. Some French commentators believe that Macron's choice of Attar is another manifestation of his conceit - France** sees Attar as "little Macron".
Perhaps it is. But if Macron wants Attar to take over his baton, he will have to make some surprising winning choices:Take a step back and get out of the way.
As Macron's two-term term enters the final phase, the choice of Mr. Atal aims to rekindle optimism and hope for a democratic renaissance, an advantage they had at the beginning of his term.
On January 9, outgoing French Prime Minister Borna and his successor Attar were at the Palais Matignon in Paris. **yoan valat/epa
More specifically, Macron's replacement of Elisabeth Bornet, who has only been in office for 20 months, is a political bet ahead of the European ** in June. It will be a tough campaign for Macron's centrist Baath Party (RE). Marine Le Pen's Radical Right Alliance party, which lost its majority in 2022** but stood out in the National Assembly, is leading in the polls by as many as 10 percentage points. Compared to his predecessors, the talented Mr. Attar has earned a reputation for his skillful communication skills and has come out on top in individual polls. It is worth noting that his age also puts him in the same age group as Jordan Baldera, the president of the league, who is 28 years old.
The bet for the Élysée Palace is that a change in tone will lead to a change in the posture and total number of people in Parliament.
* Nationalist-led radical right-wing parties will become the third largest force in the European Parliament, perhaps even surpassing the Liberal bloc. So supporters are holding out hope that Macron's bet will come true. However, it can be overly reliant on emotional strategies. As Ms Borne has discovered, Mr. Macron is unlikely to be prime minister in his second term due to the lack of majority support in parliament.
On the policy of raising the retirement age, which is strongly opposed – a policy that Mr. Macron unwisely pursued at the height of the cost-of-living crisis – Ms Bornet has been heavily criticized for failing to get the necessary votes to pass the decree legislation. Last month, at the insistence of the center-right, a new immigration law was passed after adding draconian new restrictions on legal immigration benefits. Sadly, Ms. Le Pen sees this moment as such"Ideological victory", because her party voted for this strengthening bill. Mr. Atar's political career, like Mr. Macron and Ms. Borne, began with the Socialist Party. But to the disappointment of left-leaning Republican lawmakers, the right wing is actually directing the minority**, who voted against the new immigration law.
Mr. Attar will almost certainly focus on creating the atmosphere to avoid a new major legislative battle. So with the exception of the June one, Mr. Macron's term may be doomed to end in constant struggle, as the internal competition for the successor has begun. If Attar can avoid making mistakes while injecting a new spirit of optimism, the new French prime minister will be one of the favourites to face off against Le Pen in 2027. But there are signs that a growing number of voters believe that the beleaguered ** is moribund, and that it would be a huge gamble for both Atal and Macron to take the helm personally.