[stop-imf] IMF succession race takes a couple interesting turns (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Nomination of US, Japanese IMF candidates could set up struggle with EU
WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (AFP) - The emergence Wednesday of US and Japanese
candidates to head the International Monetary Fund is likely to spark a
confrontation with the European Union, which by longstanding tradition
provides the Fund with its managing director.
The IMF announced that its executive board had received the formal
nominations of Stanley Fischer of the United States, currently acting IMF
managing director, and Eisuke Sakakibara, former Japanese vice finance
minister.
Fischer and Sakakibara are likely to be challenged by Caio Koch-Weser, state
secretary in the German finance ministry, whose candidacy has been endorsed
by the European Union.
The nominations announced Wednesday took the German government by surprise.
A spokesman for finance ministry in Berlin, Torsten Albig, said Fischer's
candidacy had "never been an issue until now."
"We're still convinced that there will be sufficient votes" for the European
candidate, Albig added.
German government sources have warned it might not be in the interests of
Europe to have US citizens occupying the top spots at the IMF and the World
Bank, both of which have their headquarters in Washington. James Wolfensohn
is currently World Bank president.
Fischer has been serving as acting managing director since February 14 when
Michel Camdessus of France resigned after 13 years on the job.
If either Fischer or Sakakibara wins the backing of the Fund's 24-member
executive board, the election would break a tradition as old as the IMF
itself, according to which the Fund is headed by a European while the World
Bank is led by a US national.
Since its establishment in the aftermath of World War II, the IMF has had
seven managing directors, three from France, two from Sweden and one from
Belgium and the Netherlands.
While the United States, the IMF's largest stakeholder, has yet to make its
preference known, US officials have been less than enthusiastic about the
candidacy of Koch-Weser.
US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers has said the next managing director
should have sufficient stature to oversee internal IMF reform and be able to
command the backing of all IMF members.
Fischer, who will be 57 in October, was born in Zambia, educated as an
economist in Britain and became a US citizen in 1976. He was named to the
post of deputy managing director in 1994 by the Clinton administration,
consistent with another IMF practice under which the number two position is
held by an American.
After a career as a university professor in the United States, he made the
switch to international civil service in 1988, when he was named vice
president and chief economist at the World Bank, where he remained until
1990.
He was nominated a candidate for IMF chief by Jose Pedro de Morais, an IMF
executive director representing Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenyan, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia,
Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and
Zimbabwe.
Sakakibara, the first Japanese citizen to be a candidate for IMF managing
director, is known around the world as "Mr. Yen" for the influence his
remarks had on the foreign exchange market. He quit his post of vice finance
minister for international affairs in September and now teaches at Keio
University in Tokyo.
He was nominated by Yukio Yoshimura, IMF executive director from Japan.
Koch-Weser, 55, was chosen by the European Union as its candidate on
February 14.
An EU spokesman said the formal decision would be made when economy
ministers from the 15 member-states assemble on February 28, a gathering
thought likely to rubber stamp the nomination.
Fluent in four languages, Koch-Weser has been hailed as the ideal candidate
to take on IMF duties of emergency economic diplomacy and the promotion of
sound fiscal practice.
His knowledge of world economic affairs and Brazilian background are also
regarded as assets at a time when developing countries are mounting a fierce
backlash against the global trade liberalization.
Before his government appointment last year, he served for 26 years as an
official of the World Bank.