French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Gabriel Attal as the country’s new prime minister, making him the youngest and first openly gay official to hold the position. The 34-year-old education minister was named to the post on Tuesday, and is one of the country’s most popular politicians, according to recent opinion polls.
Attal replaces outgoing Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne who resigned on Monday amid a cabinet reshuffle as Macron hopes to give new momentum to the final three years of his presidency.
Under the French political system, the prime minister is appointed by the president and is held accountable to the parliament. Attal will be in charge of implementing domestic policy, most notably economic measures, and coordinating the government’s team of ministers.
Attal rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was named government spokesperson and has made appearances in public with ease.
While young, Attal still has a lengthy history in French politics, joining the Socialist Party when he was 17. He would later be named as a junior minister in the Ministry of Economics and Finance before being made education minister in 2023.
Despite his left-leaning past, Attal’s first move as education minister was to ban the Muslim abaya dress in state schools, making him popular among conservatives.
aljazeera.com
