Wolfowitz resigns from World Bank\By Maura Reynolds and Joel Havemann
May 18, 2007 in print edition A-17
World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz announced Thursday that he would resign effective June 30, after weeks of controversy over accusations that he had arranged a job transfer and substantial salary increases for his companion, who was a bank official.
His decision to step down – though he acknowledged no wrongdoing – probably brings to an end the government career of the man considered by many to be the intellectual architect of President Bush’s foreign policy, especially the war in Iraq.
It also sets up a struggle over the future of the World Bank and other international financial institutions established at the end of World War II. Critics have said the bank is overdue for reform, particularly in the way its president is chosen.
“I regret that it’s come to this,” Bush said Thursday morning, signaling an end to his unqualified support for his former deputy Defense secretary. “I admire Paul Wolfowitz. I admire his heart. And I particularly admired his focus on helping the poor.”
Wolfowitz’s controversial two years as bank president and his ungainly departure are expected to intensify discussions over whether it is time to change the tradition by which the United States, as the bank’s largest shareholder, gets to choose its president. The White House moved quickly to quell such speculation, with spokesman Tony Fratto saying, “The president will have a candidate to announce soon.”
Bush is expected to pick someone with more experience as a manager and financier. Potential candidates include Robert B. Zoellick, who served the Bush administration as deputy secretary of State and U.S. trade representative; Robert M. Kimmitt, who is deputy Treasury secretary; Stanley Fischer, a former International Monetary Fund official who is a governor of the Bank of Israel; and Paul A. Volcker, who was chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987.
The Wolfowitz controversy involved allegations that he had improperly arranged a promotion and raises for Shaha Ali Riza, a bank employee with whom he had been involved for several years before Bush named him to the institution’s top job. As he was negotiating his contract, he notified officials about the relationship and sought advice from the bank’s ethics committee.
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