Gabriel Attal responds to the controversy. On Monday, while a motion of censure targeting the government was being discussed in the hemicycle, the first since his arrival at Matignon, the behavior of the Prime Minister greatly disturbed the opposition. During the speech by Boris Vallaud, president of the socialist group in the National Assembly, Gabriel Attal briefly showed a photo of a dog on his smartphone to the ministers seated around him.
Without knowing the content of the photo at the time, Boris Vallaud expressed his annoyance at the attitude of the Prime Minister. “I see you’re laughing right now. (…) All this in the indifference of your lack of listening”, launched the socialist deputy, while he was talking about “bad work, working conditions (…) which damage bodies and souls, make people sick and cause deaths”.
The photo revealing the screen of Gabriel Attal’s phone, revealed by Libération on Wednesday, provoked the anger of the left and sparked numerous reactions. Socialist MP Inaki Echaniz described the sequence as “lunar”, on his account. The rebellious MP Hadrien Clouet criticized the Prime Minister for a lack of seriousness.
“My family surprised me”
In his interview with Le Parisien – Today in France on the calendar of upcoming reforms, published Saturday evening, Gabriel Attal returns to the controversy and explains: “On the occasion of my appointment, my family gave me a surprise and we adopted a dog. A female, of the chow-chow breed. (…) In the hemicycle, during the motion of censure, my sisters sent me a photo of my dog in the garden. Spontaneously, I wanted to share this moment with the ministers next to me. »
The sequence was brief and is anecdotal for the head of government. “If I told you what certain members of the opposition are doing while I am speaking from the platform of the Assembly…” he added, without wanting to give further details.
On Instagram on Sunday, Gabriel Attal posted a photo of him and his dog, named Volta. “It’s the year of the “V” and she has boundless energy. It therefore bears its name very well, Volta, in homage to the inventor of the electric battery,” he explained.
Guest on France 3 At the end of this Sunday morning, Boris Vallaud was asked to react. “He was a bit of a mutt in his response,” judged the president of the socialist group in the National Assembly, without a bad pun. Referring to the behavior of Gabriel Attal during his speech, the MP considered that “his disinterest was obvious and even overplayed, basically, he was telling me through his attitude I don’t care what you say. While he had just said the exact opposite” in his general policy declaration, he criticizes him.
“It is perhaps sometimes useful for the Prime Minister and the government to remember that they are responsible to the national representation,” finally declared Boris Vallaud.