World News: Macron’s New Prime Minister Gabriel Attal Faces Baptism by Fire

Details

Category: World News - Europe

Published on Monday, 29 January 2024 11:00

Written by Olivier Longhi

French President Emmanuel Macron's new Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, confronts the current agricultural power struggle, which puts the tenant of Matignon in the spotlight, and the necessary response represents the first key test for the new PM.

While the farmers' tug-of-war with the government will inevitably find a way out, it is nothing compared to the obstacles that await the new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. Between the political dimension of the function and the technical aspect, the tenant of Matignon is either playing for its orbit or its political credibility. 

Beltway Insider: Biden/Israel, Immigration Deal, Conflict Drift, Election 2024: New Hampshire, E. Jean Carroll, Challenger Explosion

The new Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, certainly did not imagine such a baptism of fire. The open crisis between the Government and the farmers, a part of the profession in any case, puts the tenant of Matignon in the spotlight and the necessary response to be given to the agricultural world. If, at the moment, this crisis, like all the previous ones, seems demanding in its resolution, it will, by definition, only be acute and punctual.

However, it could also leave its mark and poison Gabriel Attal's near or distant future. He, to whom many observers ascribe great ambitions, to dream of a national project, has the opportunity here, either to go out the front door and earn his stripes as leader of the presidential majority, or to fail and then see his passage to Matignon transformed into a Way of the Cross, thereby confirming the consecrated expression taken up by his many predecessors, namely, that Matignon was a hell. Because the farmers' crisis is certainly only the first on the list of all those to come.

World News: Gaza, Martyrdom and Political Object

Banana Peau

Taxi drivers, construction professionals, teachers, so many tired corporations, and they are not the only ones, who expect a lot from the new Prime Minister. The mountain of difficulties that awaits Gabriel Attal is not, however, the most dangerous when one thinks of all his direct rivals, within or outside the majority, who are ready to lay a banana peel on his already narrow and slippery path.

So, given this description, let us agree that the room for manoeuvre for the Prime Minister is small. The function, which is technical, is also immensely political, giving its holder all the glimpses of the supreme office without exercising it. And many have burned their wings when it is not their presidential ambitions that have borne the brunt.

World News: Presidential Refrain Hits a Sour Note

From Michel Rocard to Lionel Jospin and Edouard Balladur, among others, all of them had to relinquish the supreme office not because of incompetence but because the political dimension of the function, combined with the technical and decision-making aspect it conveys, wears out and damages individuals exhausted by cannibalistic power.

Does this mean that the function ultimately takes on the attributes of a presidential fuse? The answer is clearly yes. Elizabeth Borne has experienced this in her own way, and like others before her. In the days and weeks to come, Gabriel Attal, fresh from his career, will be confronted with the reality of power, with the direct effects of the orientations desired by the President of the Republic. And at this hour, how the farmers' roadblocks must seem almost anecdotal in view of all the obstacles set in its path.

World News: Macron Names New Prime Minister Hoping to Reinvigorate His Government

Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist, recognized blogger, editor, and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, a press and publishing consultant, and a communications consultant.