Statement by World Bank Board on Selection of New Bank President a Step in the Right Direction

The ITUC today described a statement issued earlier this week by the Board of the World Bank concerning the selection of a new Bank President as a positive step (...)

Brussels, 1 June 2007: The ITUC today described a statement issued earlier this week by the Board of the World Bank concerning the selection of a new Bank President as a positive step towards transparency and due process in determining who will lead the Bank following the resignation of previous President Paul Wolfowitz.

Traditionally, the choice of President has been made by the United States, while Europe has had the power to choose the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. The international trade union movement and other civil society organisations, along with many governments, have strongly criticised these arrangements as being contrary to the principles of transparency and good governance. "It is contrary to any basic notion of democracy that the leadership of these two institutions, whose mission is promoting development and tackling poverty, has always been decided without any involvement of developing countries", said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder.

Importantly, the Board´s announcement notes that any national Executive Director of the Bank has the right to make a nomination to the position and that the World Bank’s President must have "a commitment to and appreciation for multilateral cooperation, and political objectivity and independence".

"This statement by the World Bank Board goes some way to allay the legitimate criticism of what have been unacceptable procedures for deciding who will lead the two main global financial institutions,” said Ryder. "We trust that the procedures in this case and in future will be open and transparent, and that commitment to tackling global poverty, to good governance and to social and economic development on the basis of international standards will be key criteria in deciding on the appointment of the next World Bank President", he added.

In setting a closing date for nominations of 15 June, and a period of 15 days after that in which to make a decision, the Board noted that it had been informed by the US that it intends to make a nomination. US President George Bush has put forward the name of investment banker Robert Zoellick, a former US Trade Representative, in a move which has been criticised as putting the Board under pressure to maintain the practice of the US having the exclusive right to decide who will fill the position.


Founded on 1 November 2006, the ITUC represents 168 million workers in 153 countries and territories and has 304 national affiliates.

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