Sarkozy Rejects Strauss-Kahn Claim he Caused his Downfall
President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday rejected Dominique Strauss-Kahn's claims that he was the cause of the ex-IMF chief's downfall that thwarted his bid for the French presidency.
"Enough is enough! I would tell Mr. Strauss-Kahn to explain himself to the law and spare the French his remarks," he said while on the election campaign trail in central France.
The remark came after Strauss-Kahn told The Guardian that his highly public fall from grace was orchestrated by his opponents to prevent him from standing as the Socialist candidate in the French election that culminates next week.
The ex-International Monetary Fund boss had been favored to win the presidential election until May last year, when he was arrested in New York and accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid. The charges were later dropped.
Strauss-Kahn said that although he did not believe the incident was a setup, the subsequent escalation of the event into a criminal investigation was "shaped by those with a political agenda."
The Guardian said it is clear that the "they" refers to people working for Sarkozy and his UMP party.
Sarkozy's Socialist rival Francois Hollande is tipped to win the second round of France's vote next Sunday.
Source: Agence France Presse
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