Meerdere Europese kandidaten voor baan directeur IMF (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Dominique Strauss-Kahn i has resigned from his top post at the International Monetary Fund (IMF i), in order to "protect the institution" after being charged with sexual assault in the US. French finance minister Christine Lagarde is already being tipped as a potential successor.
"It is with infinite sadness that I feel compelled today to present to the Executive Board my resignation from my post of managing director of the IMF," Strauss-Kahn wrote in a letter published by the IMF late on Wednesday (18 may).
While denying "with greatest possible firmness" the accusations brought against him, the 62-year old said he wanted to protect the institution and to "devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence."
Strauss-Kahn was arrested on Saturday as he was boarding a flight to Paris, just hours after he allegedly tried to force himself on a hotel maid at the New York hotel he stayed at.
He has been denied a $1 million bail for fear he may flee the country and kept on remand at Rikers Island, a hard-knocks jail on the Hudson river. His lawyer on Thursday is expected to renew his plea to be let out on bail and monitored electronically instead.
If found guilty on all charges - criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching - the former IMF chief faces a prison sentence of up to 25 years.
The 32-year old maid reportedly had no idea who he was, until one day later when phoned by a friend. According to her lawyer, Jeffrey Shapiro, she fears for the wellbeing of herself and her daughter, but will testify on Friday, when the trial kicks off.
Strauss-Kahn's resignation comes one day after US Treasury chief Timothy Geithner and EU commission supremo Jose Manuel Barroso i suggested he should step down, echoing similar remarks from other European capitals.
At the same time, Europeans are keen to keep the post in their hands, following an informal arrangement which says that the IMF is always chaired by a European while the World Bank is led by an American.
French finance minister Christine Lagarde is already emerging as a frontrunner among European candidates. She would be the first woman to chair the institution.
Speaking to Sky News, Swedish finance minister Anders Borg said that "Madame Lagarde is one of the obvious candidates" due to her role in managing the eurozone's fiscal crisis and its global ramifications.
The outgoing director of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet i, also a Frenchman, is another option. Two Germans are also being talked about - Deutsche Bank chief Josef Ackermann and former finance minister Peer Steinbrueck.
A challenger from another continent might emerge on the basis of a G20 promise that the selection process whould be opened-up. South Africa - an emerging economy in the so-called Brics group - has already voiced objections to seeing yet another IMF chief from Europe.
"Institutions such as the IMF must reform so that they can become credible, and to be credible they must represent the interests and fully reflect the voices of all countries, not just a few industrialized nations," South Africa finance minister Pravin Gordhan said in a statement.