17 hours ago
Former French PM Gabriel Attal: 'I do not see a shared vision for society today between Les Républicains and us'
As secretary general of French President Emmanuel Macron's party Renaissance, and president of the Ensemble Pour La République group in the Assemblée Nationale, Gabriel Attal has caused unease within his own political family by defending positions – such as on Muslim girls wearing the veil – that have brought him closer to the right. With just under two years to go before the presidential election, the former prime minister (January to September 2024) clarifies his political stance.
How would you describe the current political moment?
French political life is creating more and more orphans. First, because it is no longer seen as a solution but as a problem, due to a terrible sense of widespread powerlessness. The risk is that democracy in crisis could turn, over time, into a "vetocracy," where nothing gets done because public action is blocked on all sides. This whole framework needs to be re-examined. Then, because the two so-called "governing parties" – the Parti Socialiste (PS, left) and Les Républicains (LR, right wing) – have in recent weeks chosen a path of radicalization. They have buried their ability to bring together a majority of French people. On one side, the left has chosen political submission to the La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left); on the other, the right is drifting into intellectual alignment with the Rassemblement National (RN, far right).
