End clap to the summer universities of La France insoumise, in Châteauneuf-sur-Isère (Drôme). The rebellious left on a meeting with union representatives and figures of the movement of which Jean-Luc Mélenchon is the leader “in withdrawal, but not in retirement”.
The battle for pensions out of breath, LFI wants to maintain popular tension and gives a new appointment, this time against police violence, on September 23. It is a way for La France insoumise to get back in the ring and confront the government on another explosive subject, two months after the riots.
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While Emmanuel Macron wants to make education a priority this fall, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s movement opposes him with the difficulties families have in filling their children’s schoolbags. The coordinator of LFI, Manuel Bompard, even announces the launch in the coming days of a large collection of school supplies. A few months ago, these are food products that the rebellious harvested at the exit of supermarkets in full inflation.
“Retreat, but not retreat”
Jean-Luc Mélenchon showed up again “withdrawn, but not withdrawn” according to his expression. Unlike last year, he did not go on stage during the closing meeting, Sunday August 27, but held a conference on Friday, in a full house. The opportunity for him to set up the match with a potential heir to Emmanuel Macron in 2027: the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, whom he attacked on several occasions.
For some party figures, his desire to return there is beyond doubt. “Jean-Luc Mélenchon is reinvigorated, he reconstructs the hypothesis of 2027, entrusts one of them to franceinfo, even if it means endangering the Nupes which he wants to get rid of” according to this same source. “He wants to be the master of the game and decide at the end”.
The sustainability of Nupes in question
Yet LFI pleads to remain united in the next elections. This was the main message of these “Amfis”, to the point of inviting the former socialist Ségolène Royal and letting her announce her plan to lead a list of union with the Europeans. LFI assures him: there is no question of dropping the case, even if his partners close the door to him, the credibility of the left, the survival of the unit is at stake.
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However, some pillars of La France insoumise have another theory. For them, if the party insists so much it is because it knows that its partners will not crack and will remain opposed to a common list. The idea is to make them bear the responsibility for the death of the Nupes, from which Jean-Luc Mélenchon wants to separate to have a free hand in 2027. Basically to be able to be a candidate without the approval of ecologists, communists and socialists, who would refuse to be represented by the tribune.