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 “poor work, working conditions (…) which damage the bodies and souls, make people sick and cause deaths.”
Also read “There will be no downtime”… Gabriel Attal unveils the timetable for reforms
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.
The socialist deputy Inaki Echaniz described the sequence as “lunar”, on his X account. The rebellious deputy Hadrien Clouet criticized the Prime Minister for a lack of seriousness.
A nomination gift
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 podium of the Assembly…” he adds, without giving further details.