The Minister of the Interior digested his bitterness after the appointment of Gabriel Attal and publicly made amends.
It is an understatement to say that the appointment of his younger brother at Matignon did not delight Gérald Darmanin. The Minister of the Interior, as well as other leaders of the majority, had made their doubts known to Emmanuel Macron. A few hours after the announcement of the new Prime Minister, Tuesday January 9, Gérald Darmanin made a small, barely concealed dig at Gabriel Attal, before almost reappointing himself to his post. Since then, he has had to add water to his wine.
“I am not the man to shy away from the gendarmes, the police, the prefects, who, 100 days before the torch relay and 200 days before the Olympic Games, are going to risk their lives and put their reputation on the line,” declared the Minister of the Interior on Tuesday, traveling to Levallois-Perret. “And you know, where I come from, we like to finish what we do,” he added, a few hours after the announcement of Attal’s departure from the Ministry of National Education for Matignon.
In the midst of the reshuffle, Darmanin’s certainty of retaining his position in the government raised some eyebrows. “The ministers will receive a formal call from Gabriel Attal before their appointment,” an Elysée advisor reminded Le Figaro on Wednesday. The same day, the Minister of the Interior was scheduled to visit a police station in Ermont (Val-d’Oise) alongside the new head of government. An opportunity to erase the bickering between the two men.
Gérald Darmanin understood the lesson. Officially reappointed on Thursday January 11, following a reshuffle that he knows was largely overseen by Emmanuel Macron, the minister modestly tweeted: “Thank you to the Prime Minister for proposing my appointment to the President of the Republic. It is an honor to continue my mission at the Ministry of the Interior and Overseas Territories, in particular to make the Olympic and Paralympic Games a success.”
