Tensions around high school blockages: virulent exchanges between LFI and the executive

“The rebels call for non-violent methods of struggle,” assured on X the leader of La France insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon, while his party is on the front line to support the actions to block high schools which continue in France. “The mobilized high school students, when they have the floor, are clear about their demands: more resources for their education,” underlines the presidential candidate, targeted by Emmanuel Macron, traveling to Madrid, who judged that political leaders were “not there to stir up fears and make the worst happen.”

Manuel Bompard, coordinator of LFI, described on X the declarations of the President of the Republic as “grotesque”. “The rebels are supporters of non-violence as they have always defended it. Their elected representatives are not in front of the high schools to “excite”, but to support and relay legitimate demands.”

While LFI is mobilizing with protesting high school students, who denounce a lack of resources, teachers or even unsanitary conditions, Jean-Luc Mélenchon affirmed that “everyone must be respected in their person and in their demands”. He also called for “the dissemination of images of police violence”, judging that it served as “protection for our young people”.

“The government must stop trying to make the situation worse and respond to demands instead of leading a political fight against the rebels,” he added, while Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu denounced on Monday an “irresponsible overbidding” of elected officials from the radical left movement. Jean-Luc Mélenchon then accused the tenant of Matignon of having “ordered the repression” of high school student movements “with an obvious racist aftertaste”.

Overflows were noted this morning in Wattrelos, in the North, alongside the high school blockades. Around 8:30 a.m., a car was thrown against the gates of the Émile Zola high school, Le Figaro learned from a police source.

The driver probably “passed his vehicle between the city posts, crossed the square” before throwing his car against the gate of the establishment. He got out, dressed entirely in black and wearing a balaclava, and set it on fire before fleeing on foot.

The fire was extinguished by firefighters. The perpetrator of the damage is currently being sought.

Two public transport agents in the Nantes metropolitan area were injured “following an explosion in a burning trash can,” announced the Force Ouvrière de la Semitan-Naolib union in a press release published on Facebook.

This incident occurred near Chantenay station, during an operation to secure a bus, “in the context of the blocking of a nearby school”. The two MSR agents (network security mission) were taken care of by the firefighters. “At this stage, their condition does not cause vital concern. Nevertheless, the shock caused by such an explosion is very real,” specifies the union. A health, safety and working conditions committee (CSSCT) is planned for the afternoon to take stock.

Emmanuel Macron insisted on Wednesday that the mobilization of high school students in France did not justify “violence” and that political leaders were “not there to stir up fears and make the worst happen”, comments aimed at those responsible for La France insoumise.

“I hear and I understand the anxieties sometimes, the anger that our youth can have (...) On the other hand, none of these debates, none of these fears legitimizes violence. And under no circumstances can political leaders (..) legitimize outright violence,” declared the French president during a press conference in Madrid alongside Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The political leaders “are there because there is a democratic mandate, because they were elected in a calm manner, in an organized framework, and they are not there to stir up fears and make the worst happen,” he added.