French politicians react to Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s arrest

He’s definitely discredited. The case and the charges mark the end of his campaign for the presidency, and will likely prompt the IMF to ask him to leave his post.
French National Front party leader Marine Le Pen • Sticking the dagger into Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the International Monetary Fund leader charged with the attempted sexual assault of a maid in a NYC hotel. Le Pen is not an unbiased party: Strauss-Kahn, a member of France’s Socialist party, was a likely favorite in the 2012 elections in France, and his arrest puts Le Pen’s own party at a major advantage. But that said, other politicians in the country are reacting with shock about the whole thing. For example, Bernard Debré, a member of Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMD party, calls the charges “a humiliation and an affront to the honor of France. Everyone will now say, ‘Look at what the French do.'” Strauss-Kahn’s own Socialist party is keeping mum for now. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

35.7% the vote, in yesterday’s French elections, for the Socialist Party under Martine Aubry
11.6% the vote for the far-right National Front Party, headed by Marine LePen, a strong showing
20.3% the vote for Nicolas Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Majority Party, a weak outcome source

» Sarkozy may be sweating right now: The election had a low turnout at just 45% of the nation’s voters (still, turnout like that trounces the U.S. average for non-Presidential elections). While the threat to President Sarkozy posed by the Socialists is well known, as polls show him trailing their yet unknown candidate in his reelection effort, the big takeaway concern may be the rising power of the National Front Party under Marine Le Pen. The far-right nationalist party took 2 seats in the 102-seat general council, and have effectively flexed more political muscle much quicker than most thought they could.

Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

67% the party vote for Marine Le Pen, who will lead France’s far-right National Front party
38 years that her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, has led the party, which he founded in 1972
18% polling support for the NF, a likely headache for President Sarkozy come election time source

Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 May 2011 11:01