IMF Chief's Arrest Rocks French Presidential Race Sex, lies and ...

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IMF Chief's Arrest Rocks French Presidential Race Sex, lies and ...

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• Publié par: uhezyxuk
• Nombre de lectures: 58
• Langue: English

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English

Tuesday, 17 May, 2011

34

ALANBAA

(AP) — 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 Domin-

ique Strauss-Kahn, chief

of the International Mon-

etary 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.

For some, the arrest

spells the end of the prom-

inent Socialist’s presiden-

tial ambitions and even

his political career. Oth-

ers 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 cam-

paign heats up for theApril

2012 first-round vote.

All options point to dis-

array on France’s political

landscape for a while to

come. Strauss-Kahn’s ab-

sence from the fray could

leave more room for the

resurgent far right, or hand

a lift to Socialist rival Fran-

cois Hollande or even to

Sarkozy himself.

(Reuters) - Sex and

power are no strangers.

History is littered with

tales of the powerful and

privileged felled by sex

scandals.

But make no mistake.

If IMF chief Dominique

Strauss-Kahn is found

guilty as charged of at-

tempting to rape a hotel

maid in New York City,

he would be in a league

virtually of his own.

Few have been accused

of a violent crime like

Strauss-Kahn. The world

financier and French presi-

dential hopeful was charged

on Sunday with criminal

sexual act, unlawful im-

prisonment and attempt-

ed rape in New York City

after a hotel maid said she

was assaulted.

“Politics and power and

sexual harassment certainly

have a long history,” said

Michele Swers, associate

professor of government

at Georgetown University.

“This being an attempted

criminal rape is, I think,

of an order of a different

magnitude.”

There is no shortage of

powerful leaders who fell

from grace for affairs, pros-

titutes and groping. Sexual

indiscretions have weak-

ened governments and bur-

ied political careers on both

sides of the Atlantic, today

and in ages past.

Among the most famous

is the Profumo scandal in

1963 in which a British

war secretary was forced

to resign because he had

an affair with a prostitute

linked to a Russian spy.

The Strauss-Kahn case

raises some of the same

questions that surface in

any scandal where poli-

tics and sex intersect. Did

the accused abuse pow-

er to engage in high-risk

behavior, and did power

make him feel invincible,

above the law?

Italian Prime Minister

Silvio Berlusconi, former

U.S. President Bill Clin-

ton, ex-New York Gover-

nor Eliot Spitzer and 2012

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 glob-

al financial crisis. That

reputation had reflected

well on France and many

French voters were hop-

ing he could bring it home

with him next year.

Neither Strauss-Kahn

nor Sarkozy has formally

declared their presiden-

tial candidacy but both

are widely expected to

want to run. A poll by the

IFOPagency published this

weekend showed Strauss-

presidential hopeful Newt

Gingrich are just a few of

the powerful who have

faced that kind of scruti-

ny, although none had to

answer to charges of vio-

lent crime.

“Power is an aphrodisiac,

as is well known, and we

know as well that power

in one sense is often pre-

sumed to be power in an-

other sense,” said James

Walston, professor of Ital-

ian politics at theAmerican

University of Rome.

“So a person who is head

of the IMF might think he

can get away with any-

thing. Certainly Berlusco-

ni appears to think that

way.”

Berlusconi, 74, a tower-

ing figure of Italy’s center

right, is facing four concur-

rent trials for corruption,

tax fraud and, most sen-

sationally, sex with an un-

derage prostitute and then

using his office to cover

it up. The sex charge fol-

lowed years of rumors of

his sexual misbehavior.

Strauss-Kahn is no

stranger to these questions.

In 2008, he was investigat-

ed by the IMF over possi-

ble abuse of power over a

brief affair with an econo-

mist at the Fund who was

his subordinate. The affair

was consensual and he was

cleared, but he apologized

publicly for “a serious er-

ror of judgment.

Kahn with the highest sup-

port among possible presi-

dential candidates, trailed

closest by Sarkozy and

far-right leader Marine

Le Pen.

Sarkozy, his popularity

in the doldrums for months,

did not comment public-

ly Sunday. Voters on the

left and within his conser-

vative party are frustrat-

ed by Sarkozy’s hardline

stance on immigrants and

his failure to fulfill many

promises he made to boost

France’s economy.

Strauss-Kahn is known

in France as “DSK” for

his initials, but French me-

dia have also dubbed him

France, like Italy, tradi-

tionally is quite tolerant of

extra-marital affairs, un-

like the United States. The

out-of-wedlock daughter

of former President Fran-

cois Mitterand attended his

funeral. This time though,

French politicians and the

public were shocked. The

charges “struck like a thun-

derbolt,” in the words of

the leader of the Socialist

Party to which Strauss-

Kahn belonged.

It is rare for a politician

to go to jail for a sex crime.

Former Israeli President

Moshe Katsav was sen-

tenced in March to sev-

en years in prison for rape

when he was a Cabinet

minister in the late 1990s.

Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu said it showed

“no person is above the

law.”

One pattern psycholo-

gists detect in top politi-

cians is a readiness to en-

gage in an extreme amount

of risk-taking, said Frank

Farley, a psychologist at

Temple University in Phil-

adelphia, In the Strauss-

Kahn case, if true, Farley

said a crime would be “ex-

ceptionally risky.”

“Risk-taking is one

of the essential ingredi-

ents in highly successful

or leading public figures

and politicians,” said Far-

ley. “Strauss-Kahn (case)

fits that bill.” Clinton also

“the great seducer.” His

reputation as a charmer

of women has not hurt his

career in France, where

politicians’ private lives

traditionally come under

less scrutiny than in the

United States.

Amarried father of four,

Strauss-Kahn was briefly

investigated in 2008 over

whether he had an improper

relationship with a subor-

dinate female employee.

The IMF board found his

actions “reflected a seri-

ous error of judgment”

but deemed the relation-

ship consensual.

“(Seducing women) was

Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s

Achilles heel. We knew

he had a fragility in this

sense,” said Martinat.

But attempted rape

charges are not the same

as an extramarital fling and

could do far more dam-

age than anything he has

faced before.

Strauss-Kahn, born in

1949 in an affluent Paris

suburb and raised partly

in Morocco, started his ca-

reer as an economics pro-

fessor before becoming a

legislator and later govern-

ment minister. He helped

prepare France to join the

euro and pave the way for

the country’s celebrated

35-hour workweek.

fits the profile. He came

from modest means, faced

many ups and downs in his

political path to the presi-

dency, only to risk all when

he had an affair with in-

tern Monica Lewinsky in

the White House.

Adulation

awarded

to high-fliers can also

contribute.

“You have people who

are committed supporters

around you and they don’t

want to see anything bad

happen to you in terms of

career, so there will always

be people who are will-

ing to then cover it up,”

said Swers.

John Edwards, a U.S.

Democratic presidential

candidate in 2004 and 2008,

squandered his promising

career by having an affair

with a woman on his cam-

paign, while his wife bat-

tled cancer. Elizabeth Ed-

wards has since died.

Edwards blamed his me-

teoric rise in presidential

politics and the fawning

that came with it.

All that “fed a self-focus,

an egotism, a narcissism

that leads you to believe

that you can do whatev-

er you want. You’re in-

vincible. And there will

be no consequences,” Ed-

wards told ABC News in

2008. He later admitted

he had fathered the wom-

an’s child.

While a sense of strength

and fearlessness and a near

disregard of consequences

can make for great, pow-

erful leaders, the problems

come when they do not

acknowledge they are hu-

man, said Robert Weiss,

founder and director of

the Sexual Recovery In-

stitute, which specializes

in sexual addiction.

“If their narcissism or

egotism isn’t matched by

a healthy dose of humili-

ty of what it means to be

human ... and they run on

their intellect and don’t at-

tend to their emotions on

any level ... then they are

bound for trouble,” said

Weiss.

IMF Chief’s Arrest Rocks

French Presidential Race

Sex, lies and the reckless

choices of the powerful

Euro down as IMF

arrest weighs on EU

debt woes

(AFP) - The euro fell half a cent in opening

Asian trade Monday as markets fretted that talks

on Greece’s debt crisis would be thrown into

disarray by the arrest of IMF chief Dominique

Strauss-Kahn.

Investors were mulling the implications of

the arrest in the United States of the Internation-

al Monetary Fund boss on charges of attempt-

ed rape, criminal sexual assault and unlawful

imprisonment.

Eurozone finance ministers were scheduled to

meet later Monday to discuss finalising an IMF-

backed bailout for Portugal and were expected to

discuss Greece’s debt position too.

The Washington DC-based fund named its

number two official John Lipsky as acting man-

aging director but currency strategists said the

turmoil was bound to stall efforts to reach a so-

lution in Europe.

“Any delay is likely to rattle the nerves of euro

bulls,” Gareth Berry, currency strategist at UBS,

told Dow Jones Newswires.

“For a few days at least, the market will likely

suspect leadership paralysis at the IMF. Again, the

euro has most to lose from this, given the IMF is

now active or becoming active in three eurozone

countries (including Ireland).”

The scandal is seen likely to bury Strauss-Kahn’s

long-held ambitions to be elected president of

France. Widely praised for his stewardship of the

IMF, he is so well known in France he is often re-

ferred to by his initials, DSK.

Athens received a 110-billion-euro bailout from

the EU and IMF a year ago, but a severe reces-

sion has complicated its efforts to bring its fi-

nances in order.

The EU Commission, the IMF and Germany are

calling for Greece to reschedule its massive debt

burden, due to the deteriorating situation, the Ger-

man daily Die Welt said in its Saturday edition.

“When you look at the new data, you know the

situation has changed,” a European Commission

source was quoted as saying.

The EU Commission spokesman on economic

affairs, Amadeu Altafaj, dismissed the report as

“absurd information.”

“A restructuring of Greek debt is out of the

question,” he told AFP.

International

Finance

Sexual

indiscretions

have weakened

governments and

buried political

careers on both

sides of the

Atlantic

A self-focus,

an egotism, a

narcissism that

leads you to

believe that you

can do whatever

you want

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Sunday To Thursday

Kuwait condemns

flagrant deadly attack

on Saudi diplomat

(KUNA) -- The State of Kuwait condemned the

assassination of the Saudi diplomat, Hassan Al-Qahtani,

in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Sunday.

The denunciation was expressed by the Deputy

Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Dr.

Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, in a cable

of condolences, addressed to his Saudi counterpart,

Prince Saud Al-Faisal, from Rome, Italy.

The senior Kuwaiti official is currently in the

Italian capital for taking part in an internation-

al conference on the formation and membership

regulations of the United Nations Security Coun-

cil (UNSC).

Sheikh Dr. Mohammad addressed the cable to

Prince Saud, condemning the blatant terrorist at-

tack that targeted the diplomat of the Saudi Con-

sulate in Karachi.

“I was deeply distressed with the flagrant ter-

rorist attack and assassination of Mr. Hassan Al-

Qahtani, the diplomat of the consulate of the sis-

terly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Karachi,” Sheikh

Dr. Mohammad said in the cable.

The deputy premier and foreign ministers ex-

pressed condolences for the demise of Al-Qahtani

who was the target of this “grave incident.

“I pray to His Almighty to protect your country

and citizens and bestow his mercy upon soul of

the deceased and grant to you ability to be patient

and serene,” Sheikh Mohammad added.

Sheikh Mahammad, in his cable addressed

from Rome and declared in Kuwait by the For-

eign Ministry, also expressed Kuwait’s solidari-

ty with the kingdom in its efforts to wipe out all

forms of terrorism and strengthen the Gulf state

security, stability and prosperity.

Al-Qahtani was shot dead by gunmen on speed-

ing motorcycles in the Pakistani city who pumped

bullets at his car, also killing the driver. The in-

cident happened close to the building of the Sau-

di consulate.

Local

Strauss-Kahn.. out of Sarkozy's way