The arrest and prosecution of sexual assault, attempted rape and kidnapping of Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Sunday by the prosecutor of New York, has been a bombshell in France. The reactions were quick to share fuser and others of the French political scene, especially, the former Socialist minister was seen as the favorite of the latest polls for the 2012 presidential election.
Prudence left
On the left, despite the shock, caution is the rendezvous. Martine Aubry, the Socialist Party first secretary, said she was "totally stunned" by the DSK case she described as "thunderbolt".
She called for "respect the presumption of innocence and decency to keep the required" before a few reporters in Lille, where she was mayor. Also very conservative, Segolene Royal, Socialist candidate in the primary, spoke of "an upsetting news about all that remains to be seen." The unfortunate rival Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election said on Europe 1 that "this man must be respected, his family must be respected." François Hollande, also a candidate for the primary, spoke of "restraint", citing a "terrible news".Finally, the member-strauss kahnien Pierre Moscovici recommended Sunday "prudence and decency," describing the new "shock that overwhelms us," in an interview with AFP.
"Expect the DSK version of events. I've known him for 30 years, it does not look like I know him. My thoughts are with his family and himself in this ordeal," he added.
For his part, Jean-Luc Melenchon, co-chairman of the Left Party, told AFP he was "appalled". "I hope this is false because rape is a crime.There would be a victim, "he continued, saying" it's enough of the humiliation that this information among his causes. "" I call for restraint. Do not judge until you know, "he said.
"A president who would have looked like Berlusconi"
Unsurprisingly, the DSK affair has caused reactions more sharply toward the right and the extreme right. Bernard Debré, UMP deputy from Paris, has blasted the IMF chief. "This is humiliating for France, is disastrous. Like it or not, DSK represented our country," he said on air on FRANCE 24.While acknowledging that the Socialist was presumed innocent, he nevertheless stated that "the facts argue against this man" whose "known propensities."
Asked about the future president of DSK, the deputy of Paris responds bluntly. "My God, you realize, we would have a president who would have looked like Berlusconi who made orgies over here and there", he said. "If the facts are proven, it must be treated to avoid uncontrolled impulses and impure, it is pathological," he said.
Only member of the government to react to the moment, the Secretary of State for International Trade, Pierre Lellouche, said on ITélé need to "give Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the presumption of innocence and let the process unfold. "If all this were proved, it would be devastating," he added.
Chairman of the modem, François Bayrou, saw something "confusing, sad and extremely disturbing." He also argues that if the facts were "verified", it would be "degrading behavior towards a young woman and women in general."
For Marine Le Pen, president of the National Front, the IMF chief is "permanently discredited as a candidate for the highest office of the state" while it believes "all Paris, the Paris newspaper, the Paris political noise since months slightly pathological reports that Mr. Strauss-Kahn appears to maintain against women. "
