The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, appointed Michel Barnier as Prime Minister on Thursday, September 5. The handover between the new head of the French government and his predecessor, Gabriel Attal, took place at the Hôtel de Matignon in Paris, starting at 6 p.m. It puts an end to nearly 60 days of political uncertainty since the results of the legislative elections.
It was at 6pm on 5 September that the new Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, entered Matignon. He shook hands with Gabriel Attal before entering his new workplace, for a meeting with his predecessor. After this meeting, Gabriel Attal spoke first for a speech of just under 20 minutes. He first greeted his successor, Michel Barnier, seeing “local elected official” and the Brexit negotiator.
« Being Prime Minister is the honour of a lifetime “, said Gabriel Attal. ” I take with me your faces, your lives, your doubts. » He then defended his action, not hiding his « frustration ” having remained at the head of the French government for just a few months. Gabriel Attal notably asked his successor Michel Barnier on Thursday to ” continue to make school a top priority » car « cIt is the life insurance of the Republic “, during their transfer of power at Matignon.
At 73, Michel Barnier, from the Republicans (LR), becomes the oldest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic, succeeding the youngest Gabriel Attal, 35, who had only been appointed in January and had resigned for 51 days. For his part, Emmanuel Macron focused shortly before this transfer of power on X (ex-Twitter) on the work carried out by Gabriel Attal.
- RFI
