What does the future hold for Dominique Strauss-Kahn?

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was set free from house arrest after prosecutors suggested the alleged victim lacked credibility

Strauss-Kahn, 62, was widely expected to win the socialist party primary this autumn, setting himself up to take on Nicolas Sarkozy next spring. Yet the former IMF chief’s arrest and indictment on charges of sexual assault and attempted rape at an up market hotel in New York back in May rocked the French political landscape.

He was accused of trapping a hotel maid in his suite at the luxury Sofitel hotel and forced her to perform oral sex on him. The hotel worker originally from Guinea in West Africa, managed to flee the room, after the politician tried to remove her underwear.

Now lawyers working for the prosecution have called into doubt the credibility of the maid at the heart of the accusations against Strauss-Kahn.

The 32 year-old, maid, who cannot be named for legal reasons is said to carry links to people involved in money laundering and drug dealing. Prosecutors have revealed that police recorded a telephone conversation that the woman had with a convicted criminal the day after the incident took place. The pair allegedly discussed the potential benefits of pressing charges against the politician.

Strauss-Kahn, who has been under house arrest since he was bailed on the 21st of May, had the restrictions to his liberty lifted and his 5 million dollar bail returned to him after a hearing in New York this afternoon. However the former IMF-chief must remain in the US and will not be reissued with his passport to stop him returning to France.

Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn have now announced that it is their intention to have the charges dropped and the case thrown out of court. His next hearing will take place on the 18th of July.

The revelations have had an immediate impact on the French media who have speculated about a return to the political limelight for the man affectionately known as DSK.

Under socialist party rules, Strauss-Kahn has until the 13th of July to file his candidacy for the socialist party primaries, but due to the terms of his release he must remain in the US until after that date.

However socialist party politician Michèle Sabban, the deputy head of the Paris regional council, has called for the primary process to be postponed to allow DSK to launch a bid for the presidency.

It is impossible to gauge the full public reaction to a presidential campaign from someone who has had suffered such a monumental fall from grace. Yet the former socialist culture minister Jack Lang, told CNN that he believed that DSK would return to France more popular than before. However Christophe Barbier, the editor of the highly respected national news magazine L’Express said. "The damage to his reputation ... makes the idea he could be a candidate very hypothetical; it's science fiction,"

Despite the fears and speculation, the socialist party’s credibility did not collapsed in the wake of the DSK scandal, suggesting that the primary frontrunner was not pivotal to his party’s success. A poll conducted by CSA/20 minutes last week showed that both Francois Hollande and Martine Aubry would go on to beat Nicolas Sarkozy in the first and second rounds of next year’s presidential election.

With no political position to fall back on, and at 62 years-old this could be Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s last run for presidency. And he has blown it.

Tom Donnelly