Strauss-kahn rejoins French political elite
HE WAS tipped to become the president of France until a sex scandal turned him into a pariah. Even his wife threw him out.
But now, after sharing a stage with Emmanuel Macron and François Hollande, Dominique Strauss-kahn may have returned from the wilderness.
The former head of the International Monetary Fund, whose career ended in 2011 when he was hauled off an Air France plane and arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a New York chambermaid, made a speech on Tuesday at a memorial for a politician.
Mr Hollande, the former socialist president, spoke before him to pay tribute to Nicole Bricq, a former minister who died after a fall in August. Mr Macron, current head of state, followed him on stage.
Although Mr Strauss-kahn was eventually cleared of the criminal charge, while the civil case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, being seen with him has been taboo among French politicians. He also faced trial in France on “aggravated pimping” charges linked to the regular orgies he took part in.
He was later acquitted of those charges and the 68-year-old’s appearance last week alongside both current and former presidents suggests he has been rehabilitated and is once again deemed fréquentable.
The Elysée, Mr Macron’s office, shot down any suggestions that Mr Strausskahn was now back in favour, with a spokesman telling The Daily Telegraph that “you can’t draw any conclusions from this ceremony”, which she noted was a private event organised not by the Elysée but by Ms Bricq’s family.
But Michel Wieviorka, a political commentator, said Mr Strauss-kahn’s speech at the event “was perhaps a test to see how the media and public opinion react to his presence”.
Mr Strauss-kahn said: “The values of the left and the values of the right are not the same. Both are necessary for balance in society, but their dialectical opposition will remain alive as long as democracy remains alive. Mixing them is not confusing them.”