THE future of Paul Wolfowitz, the embattled President of the World Bank, was in further jeopardy last night after it emerged that the White House was drawing up a list of candidates to succeed him.Most prominent on the list is Ashraf Ghani, the man credited with overhauling the economy of Afghanistan after September 11, The Times has learnt. Such an appointment would mark the first time a nonAmerican has held the position in the 60-year history of the global lender.
Senior officials in the US Administration have noted that the White House is softening the tone of its support for President Bush's former Deputy Defence Secretary. They pointed yesterday to the silence of the Treasury Department and Henry Paulson, the Treasury Secretary, as an indication of the Administration's attempt to distance itself from the man it parachuted into the job in 2005.
Mr Ghani would be a bold choice to head the World Bank, where he worked as a special adviser between 1991 and 2002. After the overthrow of the Taliban by the USled coalition, he was the Afghan Finance Minister for two years, carrying out extensive reforms, including issuing a new currency, balancing the budget and overhauling the treasury's systems.Working at present as Chancellor of Kabul University, he was a candidate to replace Kofi Annan as Secretary-General of the United Nations last year but lost out to Ban Ki Moon, of South Korea.
Mr Ghani was described then as someone with a strong record as an administrator but who had a reputation for impatience. As well as the first nonAmerican chief of the World Bank, he would also be the first Muslim in the job.
I guess Virgil Goode won't be too pleased.
The man has impressive academic credentials:
Ashraf Ghani was born in Kabul in 1949, studied political science and international affairs at the American University of Beirut where he was a staunch Marxist before U-turning later on. He later attended Columbia University. At Columbia, he earned his Master's and PhD in Anthropolgy. Mr. Ashraf has also attended the Harvard-INSEAD and Stanford business schools leadership training program for the World Bank. He served on the faculty of Kabul University (1973-77), Aarhus University in Denmark (1977), University of California, Berkeley (1983), and Johns Hopkins University (1983-1991). His academic research was on state-building and social transformations.http://en.wikipedia....
A quote of his from the Aspen Institute:
"You cannot fight terrorism by killing terrorists," urged Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan's new minister of finance, addressing life in the new Afghanistan, the prospects and challenges for the new government, terrorism, and the threat of the emerging "narco-mafia."
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany believes Paul Wolfowitz's position at the helm of the World Bank has become unsustainable, a German minister was quoted as saying on Sunday.Wolfowitz, a former U.S. deputy defense secretary who helped plan the invasion in Iraq, has faced calls by World Bank staff to step down and questions about his leadership over his handling of a promotion he approved for his girlfriend.
"The situation, as it is, is no longer acceptable," German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, told the Financial Times Deutschland (FTD), in an early release of an article to run in its Monday edition.
"My conclusion is that Wolfowitz should do the bank a service and take the consequences himself. The sooner, the better."
More than 40 senior former World Bank officials called Monday for the immediate resignation of its embattled leader Paul Wolfowitz, saying he had lost trust and respect.
In a letter to the Financial Times, the 42 ex-employees called for change following revelations that the bank's president used his influence to ensure a favourable job and salary for his girlfriend.
"We believe that he can no longer be an effective leader," said the letter, which was signed by staff including four former senior vice presidents and 14 ex-vice presidents.
"He has lost the trust and respect of bank staff at all levels***"There is only one way for Mr Wolfowitz to further the mission of the bank: he should resign."
In an accompanying editorial the business daily backed the former staff's concerns.
"If Paul Wolfowitz remains head of the World Bank, he will preside over a rudderless hulk," the leader said.
"That is today's inconvenient truth. The US has alwaus had the prerogative of nominating the president of the bank. But this privilege carries with it a big responsibility. Exercising that responsibility now requires acceptance of an immediate change in the bank's top leadership."
That's the conclusion of the Director General of the Independent Evaluation Group, a unit charged with assessing the effectiveness of World Bank projects, delivered in a message to the Bank's Board of Directors.
And Wolfowitz has hired an attorney, ostensibly to save his job. http://www.sfgate.co...
The lawyer is Robert Bennett whose past clients include Bill President Clinton in the Paula Jones matter, and former New York Times reporter Judith Miller in the CIA leak investigation.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A special committee looking into whether World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz breached rules by approving a promotion for his girlfriend has declined to meet with his lawyer, raising concerns it is rushing to judgment, the lawyer said on Tuesday.
"I have heard indirectly they will not meet with me, which is very disappointing and it raises questions about whether Mr Wolfowitz is really going to be treated fairly," the lawyer, Robert Bennett, told Reuters.
In an extraordinary move in diplomatic terms, which will turn up the heat on the White House, the European Parliament today expressed its opinion on the Wolfowitz scandal. As part of a resolution on transatlantic relations, the following text was adopted by roll call vote with 332 votes in favour and 251 against:"Calls on the EU Presidency and US government to signal to the President of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, that his withdrawal from the post would be a welcome step towards preventing the Bank's anti-corruption policy from being undermined;"
Embattled World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is allegedly working to secure a $400,000 bonus due to him on June 1 before he resigns his position, according to the blog The Washington Note.http://rawstory.com/..."Allegedly on June 1st, Wolfowitz becomes eligible for some large financial bonus -- for performance and time on the job. One estimate puts this figure at about $400,000," writes Steve Clemons, who maintains the blog. "Wolfowitz wants to make sure those funds are credited to his private bank account before saying farewell...."
Clemons was provided with the information by 'insiders' at the Bank.
Isn't this nice? I'm betting that Wolfowitz ends up at AEI or some "think tank" like that
Hat tip to Raw Story