Reporter | Anjing
On January 9, a day after the resignation of former French Prime Minister Bornet, President Emmanuel Macron announced the appointment of Gabriel Attal, Minister of National Education and Youth, to succeed Bornet as the new prime minister.
The 34-year-old Atal also became the youngest prime minister in French history. The last youngest prime minister was Fabius, the current president of France's Constitutional Council, who was 37 when he became prime minister in 1984.
Attar, who joined a left-wing party as a minor, is France's most popular politician, surpassing Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Alliance, who is in the limelight.
In preparation for the European Parliament elections in June, Le Pen introduced Jordan Bardella, a 28-year-old "disciple" younger than Attar. Bhadra is currently the president of the National Alliance party and will run as the top candidate in the European Parliament elections.
Following the French presidential election, the European Parliament election in June will once again be a showdown between Le Pen and Macron. One of Macron's important goals in choosing Atal as prime minister is to prevent Le Pen's party from gaining more seats in the European Parliament.
Domestically, Attar will also be responsible for winning back the hearts and minds of centrist voters and reversing France's rightward turnaround. If successful, Atal is likely to become Macron's successor in the 2027 presidential election.
The youngest prime minister
Similar to Macron's elite background, political stance, ability to speak well, keen political sense and good looks, Attar is called "Macron 2.0".
Attar was born on March 16, 1989 in Kramar, Hauts-de-Seine, France, to a former lawyer and filmmaker, and a mother who also worked in a production company.
École Alsacienne is attended by École Alsacienne, one of the top private schools in Paris. After serving as France's education minister, Attar revealed in an interview that he had been bullied at school because of his sexual orientation. He was also the first head of government in France to publicly recognize homosexuality.
After graduating from secondary school, Attar studied law at the University of Paris II, a prestigious French university, and later obtained a master's degree in public affairs from Sciences Po. Sciences Po is also Macron's alma mater.
According to friends' recollections, Attar's political ambitions began in secondary school. In 2002, former French President Jacques Chirac faced off against Jean-Marie Le Pen, the leader of a far-right party and the father of Le Pen, in the second round of the presidential election. Attar took part in the protest march against the elder Le Pen.
Before he turned 18, Attar joined the Socialist Party, a left-wing French party, and in the 2007 general election supported the Socialist presidential candidate Ségolène Royal, who later became France's Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy. Coincidentally, Macron was also a member of the Socialist Party before founding his own "Forward Republican Party".
From secondary school to university, Attar remained politically active, participating in the march of French youth against the relaxation of restrictions on employers, and setting up a committee in solidarity with French hostages kidnapped by Colombian forces.
After graduating from university, Attar entered politics as a natural step, interning at the French National Assembly (House of Commons). Subsequently, at the age of 23, Atal became the youngest adviser to the Minister of Health. In 2014, Attar was elected as a member of the Socialist Party as a local councillor for the city of Wangwo.
A year later, Attar's father died, and the 26-year-old became a millionaire, but the change did not affect his path into politics.
In 2016, Attar left the Socialist Party to join Macron's "Forward Republic" party, and in 2017 he was elected to the National Assembly. At the age of 29, Attar became Deputy Minister of Education. When the pandemic began, Attar became the spokesman of the French government, and it was during this period that he became known to the French public.
From 2022 to last year, Atal entered the budget office and repeatedly spoke out in favor of Macron's pension reform bill. In July last year, Attar became Minister of Education, the youngest Minister of Education in France.
As education minister, Atal worked closely with Macron's wife, Brigitte, a former secondary school teacher who has always focused on education issues, on issues such as eliminating bullying in schools. The biggest controversy caused by Atal as education minister was the insistence on banning students from wearing full-length robes (abayas) in schools, despite protests.
But the move also won Atal the approval of conservative politicians, when it was reported that former President Nicolas Sarkozy was encouraging him to run in the 2027 presidential election.
Attar's greatest strength is his ability to respond to any question in public and to be able to use punchlines. He also earned the nickname "Language Sniper". Attar's political stance is largely centrist, with a centre-left shift to the centre-right in the later period.
Macron's next goal
An Ipsos poll last month showed that Attar reached 40 percent popularity among French politicians, surpassing former French Prime Minister Philippe and the leader of the far-right National Rally Le Pen.
The same poll shows that Macron's approval rating has fallen to 27 percent, compared to 24 percent of former Prime Minister Bornet, who left the country. The forced push for pension reform has caused the approval ratings of Macron and Bornet to plummet.
One of Macron's choices of Attar to succeed Borne is to increase voters' favorability of the government. Macron's previous tightening of immigration policies to win over right-wing voters has also come under fire from centrist and left-wing voters, and Atal will be tasked with winning back the support of centrist voters.
Macron's more important goal is the European Parliament elections in June this year. The European Parliament currently has 705 seats and is divided into seven major groups. The two largest groups are the center-right European People's Party (EPP) and the center-left Union for the Advancement of Socialists and Democrats (S&D). These two groups are the traditional groups of the European Parliament and the longest-standing ones.
The "Republican Forward Party", founded by Macron, has now changed its name to the Baath Party. The Baath Party is a member of Renew Europe, the third largest party in the European Parliament, and its secretary-general and chairman of the Renew Europe group are both Macron advisers Stéphane Séjourné, who is also Atar's former partner.
But last month's polls showed that the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group has surpassed other parties in terms of support and is on track to replace Renaissance Europe as the third largest group in the European Parliament. Le Pen's National Rally and Germany's far-right AfD are members of the ID caucus.
In addition, specifically Macron's Ba'ath Party and Le Pen's National Alliance, polls show that the National Alliance will receive 30% of French voters in the European Parliament elections, while the Baath Party will only 20%.
Le Pen's "protégé", 28-year-old Badra, is the National Alliance's top candidate in the European Parliament elections, and he ranks fourth on the list of France's most popular politicians. Macron's launch of Attar is also to challenge Bhadra.
Traditionally, the party that wins more seats in the European Parliament has a greater say in determining the EU's leadership. Macron needs Atal to maintain the influence of the Baath Party and the "Rise Europe" group in the EU leadership.
If Attar succeeds in the European Parliament, he is expected to run in the 2027 French presidential election as Macron's successor.
But in France, Attar will also face a complex set of challenges: pushing a new deal without the ruling party holding an absolute majority in parliament, and convincing other more senior politicians.
Former French Prime Minister Bornet used more than 20 special powers granted by the constitution in order to bypass parliament and implement a new policy. As a result, she has been subjected to several votes of no confidence in Parliament.