Wolfowitz to resign from World Bank

[SLCPUNK]

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer 59 minutes ago

WASHINGTON -
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz will resign at the end of June, he and the bank said late Thursday, ending his long fight to survive pressure for his ouster over the generous compensation he arranged for his girlfriend.

His departure ends a two-year run at the development bank that was marked by controversy from the start, given his previous role as a major architect of the
Iraq war when he served as the No. 2 official at the
Pentagon.

"He assured us that he acted ethically and in good faith in what he believed were the best interests of the institution and we accept that," the board said in its announcement of Wolfowitz's resignation.

Wolfowitz was all but forced out, however, by the finding of a special bank panel that he violated conflict-of-interest rules in his handling of the 2005 pay package of bank employee Shaha Riza.

The controversy, which gripped the bank for a month, was seen as a growing liability that threatened to tarnish the poverty-fighting institution's reputation and hobble its ability to persuade countries around the world to contribute billions of dollars to provide financial assistance to poor nations.

By tradition, the World Bank has been run by an American. The Bush administration keenly wanted to keep that decades-old practice firmly intact as the board dealt with Wolfowitz's fate. The United States is the bank's largest shareholder and its biggest financial contributor.

The White House said it would have a new candidate to announce soon, allowing for an orderly transition.

Earlier Thursday,
President Bush had seemed resigned to the likelihood that Wolfowitz would lose his job over the conflict-of-interest charges. "I regret that it's come to this," Bush said.

In its statement, the bank's board said it was clear that a number of people had erred in reviewing Riza's pay package.

Wolfowitz, who had fought the pressure to resign for weeks, had sought a recognition from the bank that he did not bear sole responsibility for the matter. In his own statement Thursday, Wolfowitz said he was pleased that the board "accepted my assurance that I acted ethically and in good faith in what I believed were the best interests of the institution, including protecting the rights of a valued staff member."

Now, he said, it was in the best interest of the board that its mission "be carried forward under new leadership."

The board's statement made no mention of any financial arrangements related to Wolfowitz's departure, nor did it speak to Riza's future.

As a result of the controversy, the board pledged to review the World Bank's ethics policies, noting that "the bank's systems did not prove robust to the strain under which they were placed."

Wolfowitz waged a vigorous battle to save his job and maintained he had acted in good faith.

European nations had led the charge for Wolfowitz to resign. Those calls were backed by many on the bank's staff, former bank officials, aid groups and some Democratic politicians.

Until near the end, the Bush administration had professed support for Wolfowitz. But in a shift on Tuesday, the White House indicated for the first time it was open to his departure. It was the same day Wolfowitz made a last-ditch plea to save his job before the board.

Among those mentioned as a possible replacement for Wolfowitz are former Deputy Secretary of State
Robert Zoellick, who was Bush's former trade chief, Robert Kimmitt, the No. 2 at the
Treasury Department; Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; former Republican Congressman Jim Leach and Sen. Richard Lugar (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., and Stanley Fischer, who once worked at the
International Monetary Fund and is now with the Bank of
Israel.

Paulson, who will work with the president on finding a successor to Wolfowitz, said: "I will consult my colleagues around the world as we search for a leader."

Riza worked for the bank before Wolfowitz took over as president in June 2005. She was moved to the State Department to avoid a conflict of interest but stayed on the bank's payroll. Her salary went from close to $133,000 to $180,000. With subsequent raises, it eventually rose to $193,590. The panel concluded that the salary increase Riza received "at Mr. Wolfowitz's direction was in excess of the range" allowed under bank rules.

Wolfowitz "placed himself in a conflict of interest situation" when he became involved in the terms and details of Riza's assignment and pay package and "he should have withdrawn from any decision-making in the matter," the panel said. Under Wolfowitz's contract as well as the code of conduct for board officials, he was required to avoid any conflict of interest, the report said.

The panel acknowledged that the informal advice Wolfowitz received from the bank's ethics committee "was not a model of clarity."

Still, the entire episode involving Wolfowitz's handling of the pay package "underscores that there is a crisis in the leadership of the bank," the panel said.

Before taking over the bank nearly two years ago, Wolfowitz was the No. 2 official at the Pentagon and played a lead role in mapping the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Bush tapped Wolfowitz for the job, a move that was approved by the bank's board even though Europeans didn't like him because of his role in the Iraq war.

[The Dog]

In 20 years I truly wonder if history will have one good thing to say about Bush.  The list of F ups, scandals, shadyness and corruption under his watch is just amazing.

[fuckin crazy]

Ah Wolfowitz ... one of the lead architecs of the "Neo-conservative" movement . The man is knee deep in the quagmire of Herr Bush's failed policies . History will judge him accordingly .

[fuckin crazy]

oops , sorry for the double post .

[SLCPUNK]

Blair tipped to be World Bank president as disgraced Wolfowitz resigns


Tony Blair may be asked to head the World Bank after its president quit in a sleaze row.

One of America?s top economists today revealed that the retiring prime minister is being considered as a replacement for disgraced Paul Wolfowitz.

Nobel prize-winner Joe Stiglitz, a former senior vice president at the World Bank, said: "He is one of the people that is clearly being discussed."

Mr Blair is expected to cash in on his international contacts after quitting Downing Street on 27 June and his agent said he would quit as an MP if "a big international job" came up.

Mr Stiglitz said the World Bank would probably prefer an economist with experience in development - which some pundits argue effectively rules out the prime minister, who has often admitted to being shaky at maths.

Nevertheless, Prof Stiglitz said: "He is one of the people that is clearly being discussed.

"I think it would be good for the institution at this juncture if they had somebody who was an economist who really understood what development was entailed and could work closely with the staff that has been very alienated by Paul Wolfowitz over the last two years and bring together the institution.

"It wouldn't rule (Blair) out but I would say that if I were going through a first priority list of priorities it would probably begin with somebody with real experience in development.

"But Blair has clearly been a political leader that has the kinds of connections that one needs, that would be useful as head of the institution."

Embattled World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz agreed to quit last night over a favouritism row involving his girlfriend.

The move ended weeks of intense pressure on the former U.S. deputy defence secretary, a close ally of President Bush and an architect of the Iraq war.

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[fuckin crazy]

One would think that a prerequisite for the job would be education and experience in finances .

[Where is Hassan Nasrallah ?]

this guy has been on my nerve for weeks, i'm glad he's gone.

who ever we got next, it's same thing.
wold bank, OMC, these organisations run for the biggest richest countries in the world and keep the poors where they are.
you wouldnt believe the scandals that surround the so called "3rd wordl / developement / financial aids"
Rich countries litteraly *use* these aids to clean up their budget, and use the debts the poor countries have against them to pump their DEV. funds (so they reach the minimum of 0.5 % or something).

scaaandalous.


ps: go watch WE FEED THE WORLD. great docu.