They will never have been so numerous. More than 8,000 people expected over the weekend: a record for La France Insoumise, which had never organized summer universities of this scale. The desire for a victory in 2027 hangs in the air, the militant fervor encouraged by the popularity of Jean‑Luc Mélenchon.
“In 2017 and 2022 we had hope. But now, clearly, we feel another dynamic. We believe in it,” explains Fabrice, 59. Wearing a football jersey “Mélenchon 27” on his back, pins in the colors of the radical left movement and of Palestine on his backpack, this masseur came from Chambéry for four days of political conferences, in a bucolic setting around a lake in the Drôme.
15 % of voting intentions
Eight months before the presidential election, such an influx of militants to the Amfis, LFI’s “summer amphitheaters,” was unprecedented. On Friday morning, one had to cross 1½ hours of traffic jams to reach the Châteauneuf‑sur‑Isère site. The organizers therefore had to find new parking lots, and the deputies Aurélien Le Coq and Bastien Lachaud improvised as traffic officers on the neighboring departmental road.
A “super dynamic” that takes its roots in Jean‑Luc Mélenchon's first campaign meeting in Saint‑Denis, according to François, a 26‑year‑old teacher from Villeneuve‑d’Ascq (Nord). The event claimed 26,000 spectators. Enthusiastic, the activist says he sees this enthusiasm “in the polls,” which put Jean‑Luc Mélenchon well ahead on the left with about 15 % of voting intentions.
An image “diabolized”
The question posed to the Insoumis is simple: if their champion has a significant electoral base, how can he convince beyond his base to become the majority, while he remains a repellent figure for a large part of the country? “When the program is unveiled, people will realize that the image of La France Insoumise they have is not the right one and that it has been diabolized,” says François.
“We see other political personalities, researchers or artists rallying behind Jean‑Luc Mélenchon's candidacy,” adds Céline, a 43‑year‑old speech therapist from Cherbourg.
Republican barrier?
Most Insoumis supporters firmly believe that their candidate will face the National Rally in the second round, as he has predicted for fifteen years, and will also benefit from a republican barrier against the far right. And this, even though the polls easily show him beaten by Marine Le Pen in a duel between the two.
Some people are afraid of both parties, but through education they will realize that the far right is too dangerous and will vote for a humanist party," prophesies Céline. Jean-Pierre, a 78‑year‑old retiree from Pas‑de‑Calais, also wearing a "Mélenchon 27" jersey and a red cap emblazoned with LFI's "Phi" logo, shares the same view. "The RN has progressed a lot, but now they have reached their limits. Marine Le Pen's legal problems are a real glass ceiling," he says.
"We're going to win"
François, on the other hand, thinks that Macronists who claim not to choose between Jean‑Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen, if the two faced each other in the second round, are in a "posture." "Their voters will vote for Mélenchon, even if the political cadres may not necessarily do so," he predicts. All the rebellious sympathizers, who made "We're going to win" their weekend chant, believe in any case that their numbers at this end of summer are a good omen for the rest of the campaign.
And it is not LFI's coordinator, Manuel Bompard, who will contradict them. "I did some research: these are the biggest summer universities ever organized by a political party. The previous record was that of the PS in La Rochelle in 2011. And they had won the presidential election the following year," he slipped with a smile.
