Gabriel Attal's strategy appeals to Michel Barnier's “base of allies”

Some elected officials regret the inflexibility of Gabriel Attal, president of the Ensemble pour la République group, and describe a “clan functioning”, a president “difficult to meet” and “focused on something else”.

Gabriel Attal and his group of deputies Together for the Republic finally gave their support to the Social Security budget on Wednesday November 27, 2024, after a few days of suspense. The former Prime Minister had maintained pressure on Michel Barnier's government by insisting on the need not to increase employer contributions on low wages.

A goal for which Gabriel Attal led a real 'arm wrestling' with Michel Barnier, Prime Minister whom the Macronists are nevertheless supposed to support. At the head of the 94 deputies of his group in the National Assembly, Gabriel Attal wanted to save one of the legacies of Macronism: “reviving the economy and hiring is still one of the only things we have succeeded in“, assures a member of the group.

While a right-wing MP denounces a logic “die-hard EPR elected officials, who do not understand that they no longer have the majority”a Horizons elected official considers that Gabriel Attal's objective “did not deserve to undermine the government“. A government already in difficulty while on the left and the extreme right, the threat of a motion of censure is growing. Matignon officially refuses to comment on the insistence of Gabriel Attal, but a close friend of Michel Barnier tackle: “Attal wanted to play pug and withdrew, while he was in the process of establishing himself as a statesman, this story damaged him“, he regrets.

Since the dissolution of the National Assembly announced by the President of the Republic in June 2024, the former Prime Minister has indeed sought to make his mark. He established a more collegial functioning, more debates between elected officials and internal votes. It's someone from “very collective, It’s funny that that’s not the image he gives,” comments one of his relatives. But other members of the Macronist group describe a “clan functioning”a president “difficult to meet” et “concentrated on something else”. His group of deputies is not always there to vote, particularly during the examination of the EPR bill on juvenile justice, a theme dear to the former Minister of Education who he wanted to put on the agenda. The text was unraveled in the Commission for lack of participants on the “common base” benches.

Already president of his group in the National Assembly, taking the helm of the Renaissance party as secretary general now appears to be his new challenge. The only one in the running after a deal with Élisabeth Borne, he will be officially designated on December 7, following a vote which brought together two-thirds of the members. Its ambition is to “renew without denying oneself” and make the party one “ideas laboratory”explains Gabriel Attal’s entourage. It's hard not to see in this the mark of presidential ambition.

However, in the Attal clan, we refuse to talk about 2027, “it's too far“. Some members of the party are also wondering: “Wouldn't the walk to the Élysée be too high?” “It's not because we have crazy talent that we are very good politically.“, consider certain elected officials. An ambition which leaves some skeptical, while the supporters of Élisabeth Borne consider that the former Prime Minister should at least let go of the presidency of the group: “You can't do both functions well at the same time.“, estimates one of them. To hear the Attalists, this does not seem current, but “he will not cling to the group if the majority of EPR deputies ask for it” .