[stop-imf] Wolfowitz on shortlist for World Bank top post

[Robert Weissman]

Wolfowitz on shortlist for World Bank top post
By Andrew Balls and Edward Alden in Washington
Financial Times, March 1 2005

Paul Wolfowitz, US deputy secretary of defence, has emerged as a leading
candidate to replace James Wolfensohn as the president of the World Bank.

Mr Wolfowitz is one of a small number of people being considered for the
US nomination, administration insiders said.

The nomination of Mr Wolfowitz, one of the chief architects of the Iraq
war and a former US ambassador to Indonesia, would likely be highly
controversial, and could raise new questions about the process by which
the World Bank chief is selected. One administration official said his
nomination =93would have enormous repercussions within the development
community=94.

Others on the US shortlist include Randall Tobias, former head of Eli
Lilly and the administration's co-ordinator on Aids.

Leadership of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund is decided
by all the shareholders in the institutions. But the US and Europe in
effect divide up the top jobs, with an American heading the bank and a
European running the fund.

The effort to pick the US candidate has been led by the White House
National Security Council and the Council of Economic Advisers. The
Treasury is leading consultations with other World Bank shareholders.
Asked about Mr Wolfowitz's possible nomination, Rob Nichols, Treasury
spokesman, said: =93We don't speculate on personnel appointments before
they are made.=94

Other names on the US list are John Taylor, the top Treasury official
for international affairs, and Peter McPherson, president of Michigan
State University. But they are not seen by the administration as leading
candidates.

European officials point to the dispute over Caio Koch-Weser a candidate
for the IMF post favoured by Europe but blocked by the US as setting a
precedent that could see them veto the US nominee. Developing countries
have also demanded a greater say in the selection.