The Elysée recently suggested that tensions are beginning to creep in between the president and the head of government.
The agricultural crisis in which France has found itself since January could mark a change of course in the relationship between Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Attal. As indicated by Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet, specialist in political communication, at La Dépêche: “Gabriel Attal went much faster than Emmanuel Macron on the subject. The Prime Minister was much more agile, more credible and much better received by farmers.”
The active presence of the Prime Minister in the agricultural crisis has indeed demonstrated his determination and his refusal to remain in the shadow of the head of state. However, Emmanuel Macron never appreciated others, notably the Prime Minister, stealing the scene from him. “Generally speaking, this is the case for all the presidents of the Fifth Republic who prefer to dominate the head of government,” analyzes political scientist Benjamin Morel at La Dépêche.
And according to someone close to Emmanuel Macron interviewed by La Tribune on February 25, “the president is starting to be irritated by the activism of his young minister.” Far from being negligence on the part of the Elysée, this message would in fact be a first warning which testifies to a turning point in relations between the president and the Prime Minister. Gabriel Attal’s proactivity during the agricultural crisis was quickly criticized, as La Dépêche points out. Notably when he made the decision to go to Haute-Garonne to meet Jérôme Bayle, a farmer who had become a figure of the movement. An error according to the Elysée for whom this visit would have “compromised the unions during this political moment” according to the newspaper. Same thing for the negotiations with François Bayrou and his possible entry into government. The media specifies that Gabriel Attal would have led the conversation alone and without prior consultation with the Elysée.
This emerging “irritation” between the President of the Republic and the head of government is, however, nothing alarming. As Benjamin Morel explains to La Dépêche, the tensions between the Elysée and Matignon are “structural”. The disagreements between these two organs of power have always existed and are reincarnated in their leaders. A situation that always ends up going beyond the initial good understanding between the head of state and the prime minister.
