PARIS, Jan 31, 2010 (AFP) - IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn would be the opposition Socialists' best hope of beating French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2012 elections, a poll showed Sunday.
    Strauss-Kahn, a former finance minister, was seen as the best presidential candidate by 23 percent of the French, ahead of 20 percent who named current Socialist leader Martine Aubry as their choice, the Ifop poll showed.
    Former presidential candidate Segolene Royal arrived far behind with nine percent of support, according to the poll published in Le Journal du Dimanche weekly.
    A total of 17 percent of those interviewed said none of the names on the list would be a strong Socialist presidential candidate against Sarkozy, who has not yet said he will stand again although expectations are that he will.
    Strauss-Kahn, now the managing director of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund, lost a bid to win the Socialist Party's nomination in 2007 to Royal.