In an attempt to revitalise his second term, President Emmanuel Macron appointed Gabriel Attal as France’s youngest prime minister on Tuesday. Attal pledged to be audacious and move quickly to assist the middle class in coping with the rising cost of living.
With the appointment of Attal, 34, a well-liked and media-savvy rising star in French politics, Macron appears to be aiming to go past contentious reforms and boost his centrist party’s prospects in June’s elections for the European Parliament.
“Dear @GabrielAttal, I know I can count on your energy and your commitment to implement the project of revitalisation and regeneration that I announced,” Macron posted on social media following his appointment of the close ally and former government spokesman Attal.
“I’m well aware of the context in which I take on this job,” Attal said.
“Too many French doubt our country, doubt themselves or our future. I think in particular of the middle class … who get up every morning to go to work … and sometimes can’t make ends meet,” he said, promising to work to “control our destiny and free up France’s potential”.
The public’s general dissatisfaction with rising living expenses and the controversial pension reform last year has negatively impacted Macron’s standing and prospects in the EU election, where his party is far behind Marine Le Pen’s far-right.
Macron, who no longer has a working majority in the legislature, has struggled to get his second term’s reform agenda passed and is now focusing on more cooperative goals like achieving full employment.
