Arthur de Laborde, special correspondent in Clairmarais (Pas-de-Calais) / Photo credit: Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP
As soon as he was appointed, Gabriel Attal jumped into a car to head towards Pas-de-Calais, where floods have made life difficult for local residents in recent days. A first trip, in the costume of Prime Minister, to meet the victims.
He will not have waited to make his first trip as Prime Minister. Newly appointed this Tuesday noon by Emmanuel Macron, Gabriel Attal visited the victims hit by the floods in Pas-de-Calais in the afternoon. In Clairmarais, near Saint-Omer, the residents, who are still healing the wounds caused by the rising waters, already expect a lot from the new tenant of Matignon.
“You are the incarnation of this France which works”
Gabriel Attal briefly spoke with the manager of a tobacco shop. “Courage to you, we are with you. And I will obviously follow all this very closely. But do not get demoralized. You are the incarnation of this France which works, hardworking, which gets up early in the morning to welcome customers and bring a whole village to life. You will not give up, you can feel it. You will find your customers and I will come and have a coffee with you,” the new Prime Minister addressed him.
Gabriel Attal then chaired a meeting with elected officials, promising in particular to speed up the procedures. It is therefore to show the full mobilization of the State that he traveled to Pas-de-Calais, in order to display, as quickly as possible, this solidarity, even though he only benefited of a few minutes, this Tuesday afternoon, to settle in Matignon after the transfer of power. The political signal that Gabriel Attal wanted to send this Tuesday evening was therefore clear: accelerate the action of the State by going, barely named, as close as possible to the French who are facing challenges.