Attal, Macron's bet to revive

Surreal moment at the Élysée. Monday evening, while Emmanuel Macron is still hesitating over the name of his new prime minister, the name of the latest candidate, Gabriel Attal, has been appearing for several hours on the banners of the news channels, as if the decision had already been made. “The president noticed that as soon as his name came up, there was a chorus of praise. Those who threw out his name were looking for the opposite effect!”, laughs an advisor. Or when the frantic pace of the media system allows politicians to validate their intuitions.

The fact remains: as is often the case with Emmanuel Macron, this crucial decision was laborious until the end. She was only arrested late in the night from Monday to Tuesday, after much delay which will leave traces in the various circles of the presidential entourage. On the one hand, advisors and relatives who pushed for a choice marked with the seal of audacity, and considered that half the road was done when Emmanuel Macron decided to separate from Élisabeth Borne. On the other, grumpy people from the macronie who were not very excited about the idea of ​​seeing a hurried young man of 34 years old staring at them from the gilding of Matignon. Starting with the faithful among the faithful, Richard Ferrand.

Also read: Guillaume Tabard: “Attal, a young and popular prime minister, Macron’s daring but perilous calculation”

According to our information, the former President of the Assembly expressed to Emmanuel Macron his “benevolent neutrality, with a preference for Julien Denormandie”, an early walker also in the running in recent days. “He pleaded for the one he is closest to. But as each of the solutions had advantages and disadvantages, he ended up telling the president that his choice would be the right one,” testifies a close friend. Ally François Bayrou expressed two reservations: Attal's lack of experience and the fact that he is leaving the Ministry of National Education after six months. The essential secretary general of the Élysée, Alexis Kohler, preferred to keep Élisabeth Borne, he who had already ardently campaigned for her appointment in 2022. Just like Édouard Philippe: the former prime minister does not maintain good relations with the new .

“It was the revolt of the boomers, and it is the symbol that Gabriel Attal embodies a change of generation,” laughs a close friend of the head of state, who notes a turning point: “It is the first time that Emmanuel Macron chooses a prime minister who is not unknown to the general public, but an established personality, and who is also in harmony with the expectations of the French. In reality, it is the opinion which imposes Gabriel Attal. One in two French people are satisfied with this choice, according to our Odoxa-Backbone Consulting survey.

The president had discreetly received the person concerned at the end of last week, among several other personalities consulted, even though his name was not mentioned among the favorites. Tuesday morning, he confirms his choice over a long breakfast. The official announcement came at midday, while Gabriel Attal was in the middle of a video conference with principals. His last meeting as Minister of National Education, he who had already spent only a short year at the Ministry of Public Accounts. “I take with me the cause of the school”, “the mother of our battles”, he tries to clear the air a little later during the transfer of power with Élisabeth Borne. In his speech, he pays tribute to the middle classes, “the beating heart of our country”, but above all to Emmanuel Macron, cited several times with deference. “Almost too much,” squeaks a historic traveling companion of the Head of State.

“The youngest President of the Republic in history appoints the youngest Prime Minister in history. I only want to see one symbol, that of audacity and movement,” he also says, reciting a credo in vogue at the Élysée. “When we look at the president's wishes on civic rearmament, regeneration, French and European pride, it already gave clues: Gabriel Attal is obvious. No one saw what was right under everyone’s noses! » boasts an advisor, in an attempt to rationalize a chaotic sequence.

Having left immediately to help those affected by the floods in Pas-de-Calais, before bringing together the “living forces of the country” this week, the new Prime Minister will soon come face to face with the National Assembly and its relative majority. Will the popularity on the right of this ex-socialist activist make discussions with Les Républicains more fluid? While Gérard Larcher wishes him "good luck" (read page 5), Nicolas Sarkozy - who did not communicate with Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the reshuffle - "does not take a dim view of Attal's appointment, but will very attentive to the way in which the right will be treated,” according to a recent interlocutor of the former president.

The Élysée is now outlining the appointment of the new government before the weekend. “They don’t start from a blank page. The framework will be the same,” bets a Macronist MP who sees it clearly. We still need to fill a Ministry of National Education abandoned in the open countryside. “I hope that the president will find a personality who has the weight, the strength and the capacity to take a central interest in this subject,” pleads François Bayrou to Le Figaro.

Among the threatened, the rating of Transport Minister Clément Beaune, who had fomented threats of resignation from left-wing ministers, is at its lowest in the executive. While her Health colleague, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, is weakened by a case of gifts from a pharmaceutical laboratory, but also by Emmanuel Macron's decision, announced Monday, to split the bill on health into two texts. end of life, which was not the option defended by the minister. Anxious to combine the arrival of Gabriel Attal at Matignon with other surprise effects, Emmanuel Macron is also considering more “people” choices: the appointment of Claire Chazal to Culture, for example, has been circulating in high places in recent hours.