Financial Times: Wolfowitz "presidency is over"

April 23 (EIRNS)--Beleaguered World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has received more calls from all sides for his resignation. First, a letter to the Financial Times (April 23,2007) from 42 former high level officials calls for his resignation. Then the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), which assesses the bank's effectiveness, issued a scathing report on how Wolfie is "eroding" the bank's credibility with the obvious implication that he should quit. The Financial Times calls for him to resign, and if he doesn't, the Europeans should withhold payments to the bank. Last and certainly not the least, the German Development Affairs Minister called on Wolfowitz to quit.

"Sir, We are a group of ex-World Bank staff who occupied senior positions in the institution (managing directors, senior vice presidents, vice presidents, directors.... Some of us have worked under Paul Wolfowitz," begins the letter to the Financial Times . They write: "We believe that he can no longer be an effective leader. He has lost the trust and respect of the bank staff at all levels, provoked a rift among senior managers, developed tense relations with the board, damaged his own credibility on good governance ... and alienated some key shareholders at a time when support is essential for a successful replenishment of the resources needed to help the poorest countries, especially in Africa." Emphasizing once again how his continued presence jeopardizes the bank's credibility as a development institution whose mandate is "fighting poverty," they demand that "he should resign."

The IEG's devastating report charges that because of the Wolfowitz scandal the bank's "development effectiveness is being jeopardized" and warns that the "ability of staff - particularly those working in client countries to carry out daily interactions with clients as well as the institution's ability in convening partners, are eroding." They report that bank managers were being laughed at when they talked about the need to tackle governance issues.

In its lead editorial the Financial Times cites both the above letter and report, warns the European countries, who contribute three fifths of the bank's funds, four times more than the U.S., "cannot - and should not promise taxpayers' moneys for the next replenishment" as long as Wolfie remains president. They write that Wolfie's "presidency is over. Nothing can make it effective" and concludes by calling on all the leading governments to "ensure the smoothest possible transition to a new leadership."

Finally, German Development Affairs Minister Heid Wieczorek-Zeul has also called for Wolfie's resignation or dismissal. According to a report on Deutschland Funk (April 23) Wieczorek-Zeul cited the fact that one cannot struggle for good governance and against corruption in developing countries when the prime development agency itself is corrupt.