Almost 40% of French voters want to see DSK return to public life

Almost 40% of French people would like to see the disgraced boss of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dominique Strauss-Kahn return to French public life, according to a poll taken after he sent a cryptic tweet hinting a comeback, his first ever message using the social media platform.

Strauss-Kahn, also known as DSK, has faced three unsuccessful prosecutions for sexual misconduct in the last four years, the last of which he was acquitted from only two weeks ago. Prior to that he served as IMF chief and briefly as the minister of finance under president Jacques Chirac. He unsuccessfully sought the Socialist Party's presidential nomination in 2006, but his arrest in 2011 and subsequent allegations of sexual assault and pimping dented his chances of leading the country.

However, according to a poll of 1,000 French citizens commissioned by national TV channel BFMTV, DSK's return to public life in France would be welcomed by two out of every five people in the country as 38% indicated they would either totally or somewhat agree that they would like to see him back.

A majority of 61% still indicated that they would not like to see DSK return, however only 54% said they thought he actually would not return.

Perhaps unsurprisingly women were less likely to endorse DSK, despite his acquittal as only 33% of the women surveyed said they would like to see him back in public life, compared to 44% of men.

Voters from the Socialist Party would be happiest to see the former IMF chief return, with 54% of them saying so, while 36% of right wing voters and 39% of nationalist Front National voters want him back.

The results come after DSK celebrated his acquittal by joining Twitter earlier this week and amassing tens of thousands of followers and using his first tweet to say: "Hello Twitter, Jack is back".

French Twitter users have since been speculating what the message may mean and whether DSK is mulling over a public return. Some ventured to guess why he was referring to himself as Jack, with some drawing parallels to Jack Nicholson's mentally disturbed character in the film adaptation of Stephen King's the Shining.

Jack is back.#DSK #CroisonsLes pic.twitter.com/yG7NZCZuAO

— GuillaumeTC (@GuillaumeTC) June 22, 2015

Another popular theory which spawned from DSK's maiden tweet was that he was likening himself to Jack Bauer, the protagonist from the hit action series 24 which returned with a new instalment last year after four years of being off screens.

DSK has not tweeted to confirm any of these theories.

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