Post date: Sep 21, 2012 7:39:33 PM
ROISSY-EN-FRANCE, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 4, 2011) (REUTERS) - Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the discredited former head of the International Monetary Fund, on Friday (September 21) said he was keen to play a role in the European policy debate more than a year after a string of court cases and sex scandals ruled him out of the race for the French presidency, for which he was once the front-runner.
In one of his first media interviews in more than a year, the discredited former head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn, says he wants to play a role in the solving of economic crisis in the euro zone.
In his first television interview since his return to France in more than a year, 'DSK' told the I-Tele news channel that the situation in the euro zone could not continue as it is.
"Today there is an economy such as Greece, which represents two percent of the euro zone GDP and poisons the entire zone with the consequences it had on Spain, Italy. We must pull out of this situation, we cannot stay in a situation where a difficulty that hits only a small part of our economy in the end grows and paralyses the whole (economy)," he said.
He added he wanted to contribute and point out some ideas to solve the current crisis.
"I think we must have new ideas, there are not that many. I suggest some, they can be good or not, each one can decide, but we need new ideas to go forward and the situation calls for them because otherwise, especially in Europe, we will sink in several years of weak growth with all the consequences this could have," he said.
The interview was recorded in Marrakech, Morocco, where he spent part of his childhood and has a holiday home.
Since his return to France in September last year after a U.S. court dropped attempted rape charges against him, Strauss-Kahn has been dogged by accusations centring on his sexual appetites.
Strauss Kahn denies any wrongdoing. But he is currently under investigations over his alleged role in a prostitution ring in the Northern city of Lille and has spent a good deal of his time since returning to France answering questions of police and prosecutors and fending off the accusations of women who have filed formal complaints against him.
Asked about the role he wanted for himself, Dominique Strauss-Kahn said he was happy with suggesting ideas.
"I do not want to overestimate my personal role. I hope that some ideas which I like will lead to something or make other people think about them and suggest new ones. This role suits me well and that I want to keep having in the upcoming years," he said.
Before his fall from grace, Strauss-Kahn had been viewed as a shoo-in for the French Presidency, which was won by Francois Hollande who at the time was seen as a distant rival.
Hollande and most senior Socialists have since distanced themselves from Strauss-Kahn, ruling out any return to a role for the former finance minister who last held official office in France at the turn of the century. A high-flying economist, Strauss-Kahn held office at the time of the launch of the euro and helped implement some of the reforms required for France to join Europe's single currency.
In the United States, Strauss-Kahn faces a civil lawsuit by hotel chambermaid Nafissatou Diallo, who alleges he attempted to force her to have sex.