Political fallout

The image relayed around the world of Dominique Strauss-Kahn walking into court past a row of chambermaids chanting "shame on you" was an upsetting one for many on the French Left. For decades, Strauss-Kahn has been a leading figure in the Socialist Party.

The former head of the International Monetary Fund was on course to overthrow the so-called 'president of the rich,' Nicolas Sarkozy. Yet there he was, confronted by poor employees bussed to the courthouse by their trade union. Kenneth Thompson, the lawyer representing the alleged victim, an immigrant from West Africa, is speaking of a class war.

"The victim wants you to know that all of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's power, money and influence throughout the world will not keep the truth about what he did to her in that hotel room from coming out," he said.

A matter of perception

France's main TV channel TF1 has hired New York and Paris lawyer Christopher Mesnooh to analyze Strauss-Kahn's trial. He says Thompson's line of attack is now clear.

"He is laying his first cards on the table," said Mesnooh. "He has already decided upon the main themes he'd like to play up in this trial. Moral damage and psychological harm, of course, but he is also making this into a trial about class, because this trial relates to all the fractures in American society - economic, sexual, racial, religious. This could be quite difficult for Mr. Strauss-Kahn to deal with - more complicated perhaps than the purely penal part of the trial."

Marie-Eve Malouines, political commentator with France Info radio, agrees. She says what is happening in New York is potentially damaging for the image of the Left.

"First there are the colossal sums paid out by Strauss-Kahn and his wife Ann Sinclair," she said. "Several million dollars bail and tens, even hundreds of millions more for his lawyers and housing. It means that the Left can no longer attack Nicolas Sarkozy as the rich people's candidate, the rich people's president. Socialists who were readying themselves to support the man who is now spending a fortune in New York can no longer use that argument against the incumbent president."

Trouble for the Socialists

For the time being, opinion polls show that the Strauss-Kahn affair has had little effect on Sarkozy's chances of winning next May. They indicate that those who would have voted for the former head of the IMF will now vote for the other Socialist candidate - whether it's Martine Aubry, Francois Hollande or one of the other contenders.

But the Socialists' image as the party of the have-nots has taken a knock. As the trial gets under way in New York - parallel to the campaign in France - the more the French electorate hears from the plaintiff's attorney, the worse things will be for the Socialists.

Author: John Laurenson, Paris / mz
Editor: Martin Kuebler