IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn apologized on Monday for “an error of judgment” in an affair with a subordinate, but denied he had abused his position.
In a staff memo after meeting with the fund’s board, Strauss-Kahn apologized to employees, the woman he had the affair with, Piroska Nagy, and his wife, French television personality Anne Sinclair, for the trouble it had caused.
IMF officials said Strauss-Kahn had not resigned. The scandal comes as the IMF deals with the worst financial crisis since the 1930s and emerging economies turn to it for policy advice and financing.
An IMF investigation being conducted by an outside lawyer is looking into whether Strauss-Kahn gave Nagy, a senior economist in the Africa Department at the time, preferential treatment before she took a staff buyout offer in August.
Her lawyer, Robert Litt, told reporters his client had not received special treatment and was not pressured to leave. She is now working for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London.
“I apologized and said that I very much regret this incident,” Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister, said in the staff e-mail.
“Second, while this incident constituted an error of judgment on my part, for which I take full responsibility, I firmly believe that I have not abused my position,” he said.
“Third, I fully support the process that is under way and I will, of course, follow the board’s guidance as to how best to resolve this matter,” he said.
IMF officials said the investigating lawyer would question Strauss-Kahn and submit a report by the end of the week.
Strauss-Kahn said he regretted the problems the incident had caused for Nagy.
“I want to apologize to the staff member concerned for my error in initiating this relationship,” he said. “She is a talented economist and consummate professional.”
“I acknowledge and regret the difficult situation this has created for her. I also apologize to my wife and family,” he said.
On her blog on Sunday, Strauss-Kahn’s wife said: “For my part, this one-night stand is now behind us; we have turned the page.”
Nagy’s husband, Mario Blejer, a former Argentine central bank governor and Bank of England adviser, told Argentine radio the couple has been separated for several years.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
RSS