PARIS – Two-thirds of French people do not want former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn to be a candidate in next April’s presidential election, a poll has shown, and an even larger share does not believe he will run.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist Party heavyweight, was a strong favourite to unseat president Nicolas Sarkozy in the election until his arrest in New York in May on sex assault charges threw his political future into question.
The case appeared to weaken last week, however, when New York prosecutors questioned the credibility of the hotel maid who alleged he tried to rape her. A court released Mr Strauss-Kahn from house arrest and signs that the case was unravelling raised the prospect that he could return to France in the months ahead.
Yesterday’s survey, carried out by OpinionWay and published by Le Figaro magazine, found 65 percent were against a presidential run by Mr Strauss-Kahn and 74 per cent said they did not believe he would put his name forward.
His supporters had jumped on his apparent twist in fortune to call for his return to politics and a presidential run, despite a Socialist Party primary schedule that would have obliged him to submit a candidacy by July 13th.
Left-wingers however have since played down the likelihood of his running, with Socialist Party spokesman Benoit Hamon saying that was “the weakest” of all possible scenarios for his future.
In his absence, François Hollande, a former party leader, has emerged as a frontrunner, ahead of rival Martine Aubry. Polls show both could beat Mr Sarkozy.
The prospect of a speedy return to politics for Mr Strauss-Kahn grew dimmer this week when French writer Tristane Banon filed a complaint against him for allegedly trying to rape her in 2003, when she was in her early 20s.
While five contenders are jostling for the Socialist nomination, Mr Strauss-Kahn is confined to the US ahead of his next court hearing on July 18th. His lawyers said on Wednesday that he would not plead guilty to avoid a trial.
Meanwhile, the New York prosecutor under fire for his handling of the sexual assault case against Mr Strauss-Kahn was hit with a new salvo on Wednesday when lawyers for the accuser asked him to leave the case and appoint a special prosecutor.
The request came even though prosecutors left in place sexual assault charges against Mr Strauss-Kahn after a two-hour meeting with his defence lawyers on Wednesday, pledging to further investigate a case that appeared to be falling apart.
As chief prosecutor, district attorney Cyrus Vance represents the state of New York and by extension is an advocate for the accuser, a 32-year-old hotel maid from Guinea. However the woman’s lawyers blamed Mr Vance’s office for undermining their own case by leaking damaging information about her.
A spokeswoman for Mr Vance dismissed the request as “wholly without merit”. “We strongly disagree with how the office and the work of the assistant district attorneys have been characterised,” she said. – (Reuters)