From the Associated Press:
Allegations of sexual assault in a New York hotel have torn France’s presidential race asunder and savaged the reputation of the suave and self-assured Dominique Strauss-Kahn, chief of the International Monetary Fund.
The 62-year-old Strauss-Kahn has topped French opinion polls for months as the man most likely to become this nation’s next president, consistently outshining the little-loved conservative incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Yet on Sunday, Strauss-Kahn’s allies and rivals alike struggled with shock at news that he was hauled off an Air France flight minutes before takeoff, arrested and facing charges of attempted rape and a criminal sex act. An arraignment expected Sunday night was postponed until Monday.
In cafes and outdoor markets, French voters shared that disbelief.
For some, the arrest spells the end of the prominent Socialist’s presidential ambitions and even his political career. Others cautioned that it’s too early to judge a man who denies wrongdoing. Still others sniffed a plot to blacken his name just as France’s presidential campaign heats up for the April 2012 first-round vote.
“It doesn’t spell the end for a politician, it spells the end for a man, period. And that is dramatic,” said former Adidas owner and prominent French businessman Bernard Tapie.
All options point to disarray on France’s political landscape for a while to come. Strauss-Kahn’s absence from the fray could leave more room for the resurgent far right, or hand a lift to Socialist rival Francois Hollande or even to Sarkozy himself.
The arrest also marks a striking fall from grace for a man who built up a formidable reputation as a problem-solver and sharp negotiator as IMF chief during the global financial crisis. That reputation had reflected well on France and many French voters were hoping he could bring it home with him next year.
The arrest is “humiliating for the IMF and humiliating for our country,” said lawmaker Bernard Debre of Sarkozy’s conservative UMP party.
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