34-Year-Old Gay Appointed New French Prime Minister
A 34-year-old gay, Gabriel Attal, was on Tuesday, appointed by French President Emmanuel Macron as the country’s new prime minister.
Attal replaces outgoing Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne who resigned on Monday amid a cabinet reshuffle.
Attal after the appointment became the youngest and first openly gay official to hold the position.
He was outed as gay by an old school associate in 2018 when he was in a relationship with Stephane Sejourne, Macron’s former political adviser.
According to a report from Aljazeera, the 34-year-old former education minister is one of the country’s most popular politicians.
‘’I know I can count on your energy and your commitment,” Macron posted on the social media platform X in a message to Attal.
Attal will be in charge of implementing domestic policy, most notably economic measures, and coordinating the government’s team of ministers.
According to the report, Attal rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was named government spokesperson and has made appearances in public with ease.
He joined the Socialist Party at the age of 17 and was later named as a junior minister in the Ministry of Economics and Finance before being made education minister in 2023.
Attal banned the Muslim abaya dress in state schools when he resumed as education minister.
French opposition leaders see Attal’s appointment as hardly momentous, even counterproductive.
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure told France Inter radio, “Elisabeth Borne, Gabriel Attal or someone else, I don’t care; it will just be the same policies.”
Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old leader of Le Pen’s National Rally party said, “By appointing Gabriel Attal … Emmanuel Macron wants to cling to his popularity in opinion polls to alleviate the pain of an interminable end to his reign.
“Instead, he risks taking the short-lived education minister with him in his fall.”
Kazeem Badmus is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience. A professional in journalism and media writing, Kazeem prioritses accuracy and factual reportage of issues. He is also a dexterous finder of the truth with conscious delivery of unbiased and development oriented stories.
