 Jean-Marie Le Guen, a Socialist lawmaker, said it was “premature to talk about politics” but added that “in the battle of the presidential elections of 2012, he could play a very important role.” 
 
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 Before his arrest, Mr. Strauss-Kahn had been widely expected to resign from the International Monetary Fund to run as the Socialist candidate against President Nicolas Sarkozy next year. The news from New York spread rapidly across television, radio and Internet news outlets. A group of Strauss-Kahn supporters issued a statement saying the Socialist Party should “prepare to welcome Dominique Strauss-Kahn in France” and extend the timetable for primary nominations.
– Dominique Strauss-Kahn's old job has been filled, but supporters waking to the news that the sexual assault case against him is collapsing have a new one in mind for him: president of France. Before his arrest, the former IMF chief was considered a leading contender to unseat Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's election, and his allies are now urging the Socialist Party to put its primary process on hold until he returns to France, reports AP. "I am a happy man, happy for him and for our country,” former Socialist culture minister Jack Lang tells the New York Times. "“You can’t play with the honor and dignity of someone. His life was temporarily broken, his honor put into question." The news is "like a thunderbolt," says former Socialist leader Lionel Jospin. Other French politicians, however, note that the case against Strauss-Kahn is ongoing and it may be too soon to pop the champagne.