DSK and the "Yes we Kahn" tee shirt - a hint for 2012?

Will Dominique Strauss-Kahn throw his hat into the ring for the Socialist party primary to become its official candidate in France's 2012 presidential election?

He says he has made his decision but is keeping it to himself for the moment - just as he has done during months of relentless media speculation both at home and abroad.

(screenshot from Canal + documentary)

At the weekend Canal +, France's premium pay television channel aired a documentary dedicated entirely to DSK as he's more popularly known.

"Un an avec DSK - au coeur du FMI" wasn't just a straightforward interview but, as its name suggests an almost hour-long portrait of the man following him around in his role as head of the International Monetary Fund.

It wasn't encrypted as most of the channel's programmes are, so anyone who wanted to could watch.

It was an intriguing documentary which illustrated just how much interest there is from journalists around the world about DSK's intentions for 2012, while at the same time underlining his inability to be able to give any sort of straight answer as it would contravene IMF regulations forbidding political comment.

DSK also came across as a man busy cultivating an image that certainly doesn't do his stature as a heavyweight on the international political scene any harm whatsoever.

There were also a couple of moments that were surely quite telling about DSK's continual cat-and-mouse game with the media as the inevitable questions about his intentions for 2012 were asked - time and time again.

The first came in July 2010 during a summit in South Korea when the boss of one of the country's largest newspapers quite simply asked him, "So you're going to run to be president?"

"Yes," came the immediate response and a pause for effect.

"I'm going to run...to see your president (Lee Myung-bak) tomorrow morning - I hope."

And the second tease came in September 2010 when DSK and his wife Anne Sinclair, attended the IMF's annual football tournament in the suburbs of Washington.

They, and others, were wearing tee shirts with his image and the slogan "Yes we Kahn" printed on the back.

When the journalist pointed out the obvious similarity to the one used by Barack Obama in 2008 and suggested that it could be construed like a declaration of sorts, DSK laughed it off.

"The tee shirts had been made without my knowledge and are in support of the team representing my office, he said.

And when asked by the journalist what he thought of the (tee shirt's) slogan DSK replied, "It has been used once. It can't be used again."

Whatever your thoughts on the chances of any Socialist candidate winning in 2012, DSK, has until mid July to announce whether he's going to run in the party's primary.

That's when nominations close.

In the meantime, as the weekly news magazine L'Express writes, DSK appears to be the master at playing the political game to its full.

"He says just enough to remain within the constraints placed upon him by the IMF while at the same time not too little that the French would forget him."