Kahns departure - a loss
The arrest of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on attempted rape and assault charges in New York on Saturday had the effect of a bombshell in France. Kahn was widely expected to resign from his post at the IMF and run for the French presidential poll in 2012. His arrest put an end to a brilliant career as an economist and a politician. Mr. Strauss-Kahn's downfall comes at an opportune time for the French right and extreme right. Never has President Sarkozy been so low in the polls. Kahn was the politician who would have been acceptable to France's centre-right.
He was capable of stealing the centrist vote from France's president while carrying along sizeable sections of the French left. The sudden end to his political career has left the socialists in disarray with a huge hole which is likely to be filled by several presidential hopefuls, none of whom has the charisma, the brilliance or the pragmatic efficiency that Kahn displayed.
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