French candidates battle fresh scandals

French presidential front-runner François Hollande headed into the last round of his battle with Nicolas Sarkozy with both of the candidates threatened by the shadow of scandal.

Socialist challenger Hollande is the favourite to win next week’s vote, but his campaign was shaken by a new episode in the saga of his party’s ties to disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Over the weekend, Socialist lawmaker Julien Dray invited Hollande’s campaign director Pierre Moscovici, communications director Manuel Valls and former partner Segolene Royal to a drinks party to celebrate his birthday.