PARIS – A majority of French people do not want former International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn to return to politics after US prosecutors dropped charges of attempted rape against him this week, a poll showed yesterday.
The survey by pollster CSA showed 53 per cent of those questioned would prefer the former Socialist finance minister to play no part in the political debate in the coming months, as France gears up for presidential elections in April 2012.
Mr Strauss-Kahn had been the clear favourite to win next year’s ballot before his arrest on May 14th after a 32-year-old Guinean hotel maid accused him of sexually assaulting her in New York.
A judge dropped all criminal charges against Mr Strauss-Kahn in New York on Tuesday after prosecutors said there were contradictions in the maid’s story.
He has missed the deadline for registering for the Socialist Party’s primary to choose a presidential candidate. Only 23 per cent of those polled said they were in favour of Mr Strauss-Kahn contesting the Socialist primary, which would require a special dispensation from the party, and 19 per cent said he should back one of the six current candidates.
With his reputation tarnished by widespread reporting of his aggressive sexual behaviour, political analysts say a weary Mr Strauss-Kahn is unlikely to seek to play a frontline role in the left’s presidential campaign or seek a government position.
But his return to France could complicate matters for the Socialists, who gather for a party conference in the western French city of La Rochelle next Thursday, as they seek to end the right’s 16-year grip on the presidency.
Mr Strauss-Kahn still faces a civil case brought by the maid Nafissatou Diallo in New York, and a separate inquiry in France from a writer who accuses him of trying to force himself on her during a 2003 interview. – (Reuters)