The next World Bank president should be chosen democratically rather than by the United States, the global anti-poverty agency ActionAid said on Friday following Paul Wolfowitz's resignation as bank chief.
LONDON: The next World Bank president should be chosen democratically rather than by the United States, the global anti-poverty agency ActionAid said on Friday following Paul Wolfowitz's resignation as bank chief.
"To demonstrate to the developing world that the bank is serious in its claim of being a champion of good governance, its board should pursue root and branch reform," ActionAid policy officer Romilly Greenhill said.
"A first step is to ensure that the selection of the new president is open to all nationalities and is based on merit, not cronyism. The world neither wants nor needs another Bush appointee in this important position," she said.
Wolfowitz bowed Thursday to weeks of pressure and agreed to step down June 30 to end a protracted controversy over a generous pay and promotions package for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza.
Wolfowitz violated bank rules in arranging a generous promotion and pay package for Riza shortly after he assumed the bank presidency in June 2005, according to an internal World Bank report made public on Monday.
Riza ended up earning almost 200,000 dollars a year when she was transferred to the State Department while still on the Bank's payroll.
ActionAid underlined the need for comprehensive reform at the Bank.
"It is crucial that the way the bank's board is run is also reformed. It cannot be right that five countries automatically hold one seat each whilst the remaining 178 are squeezed into only 19," Greenhill added.
By tradition, the United States nominates the World Bank chief -- typically a US national -- while Europe names the head of its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund.
The White House said it regretted the decision of the former US deputy defense secretary -- a key architect of the Iraq war -- but that President George W. Bush would soon announce a new candidate.
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