Jean-Luc Mélechon hopes that "the unions will call for a general strike" on September 10

It is the "duty" of La France Insoumise (LFI), as a "popular party, to support [the] popular movement" called "Block Everything", announced for September 10, while "scrupulously respecting the political independence of this movement" declared its leader, Jean-Luc Mélechon, guest on TF1's "1 p.m." news on Saturday August 23.

The "rebellious" leader was speaking live from Châteauneuf-sur-Isère (Drôme), where the movement's summer university, the Amfis, is being held until Sunday – an event which Le Monde was prevented from participating in due to a refusal of accreditation by LFI .

"We hope that the unions (...) will call for a general strike" on September 10 "to give this day immense power," Jean-Luc Mélechon said.

On Friday, he had already called , in front of his activists in Châteauneuf-sur-Isère, for "September 10 to be a day of general blockade, that is to say, as far as employees are concerned, that September 10 should be a general strike . " "It's not up to me to decide, of course," he stressed, adding: "We need the general strike on September 10 because on September 23, we will table the motion of censure to bring down Mr. Bayrou's government."

Unlike the left-wing parties that have taken up the cause of the Block Everything movement , the National Rally, which "has no vocation to be the instigator [or] the organizer of demonstrations," will not give instructions to its supporters, assured Edwige Diaz, vice-president of the far-right movement, on Friday.

Asked about the 2026 budget, Jean-Luc Mélechon judged that the plan presented in mid-July by François Bayrou, predicting 44 billion euros of savings next year , was "absurd" while "the French are wondering how they are going to fill their fridges" .

The "rebellious" leader also challenged the Prime Minister, accusing him of living "outside of reality" by "asking the most from those who have the least . " "The French need to breathe, you don't understand that you are going to strangle them," he said, addressing the head of government, who, according to him, intends to pursue a "cruel" policy.

To address what promises to be a very delicate political return, François Bayrou will hold a press conference on Monday at 4 p.m. , Matignon announced on Saturday. "At the start of the school year, there will inevitably be a confrontation between reality and ideologies," he told Agence France-Presse this week after spending a studious summer in Paris.