Bush Learns The Art of Diplomacy

In the dying days of his presidency President Bush seems to be finally learning the subtle art of diplomacy, if his decision to appoint Robert Zoellick to head the World Bank is anything to go by.

Zoellick comes as a breath of fresh air, after the lamentable failure of the Wolfowitz presidency.

Many have applauded Zoellick's nomination by President Bush, hoping that it will help restore the reputation of an organisation that was tainted by the regime of his predecessor.

Pending confirmation by the board, Zoellick will start on June 30.

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The Wolfowitz Legacy

Following on from the much heralded resignation of Paul Wolfowtiz from the presidency of the World Bank, questions are already being raised about the willingness of member countries to maintain the tradition that the new bank president be nominated by the American president.

The World Bank, having thrust the issue of ethics and accountability firmly into the spotlight, is also facing some very hard questions about its internal structure and procedures.

Aside from internal accountability, questions are also being asked about the accountability and honesty of those nations that benefit from loans and aid handed out by the World Bank.

It is ironic that Bush and Wolfowitz may, quite unwittingly, have done the World Bank a service by forcing these issues into the spotlight.

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Wolfowitz Resigns

Paul Wolfowitz has finally comes to his senses and resigned (effective as from 30 June) as president of the World Bank.

The World Bank board will meet later today to discuss leadership issues, including the process of selecting the new president.

However, as is custom and practice, the White House still has the right to appoint the president. US Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, said that he would help President Bush to identify a nominee after consultations with other World Bank member countries.

The United States, the bank's largest shareholder, has named the World Bank chief since it formed the bank over 60 years ago.

However, this time around Bush will not find the process of nomination so straight forward:

1 Wolfowitz, a Bush nominee, failed in the post becuase he was arrogant and ignored ethics

2 Bush's presidency is imploding, rocked by domestic political scandals and the Iraq failure, his power and authority is draining away

3 Bush is despised by many European leaders

The failure of Wolfowitz is symbolic of the failure of Bush. The next US nominee will find that the other members of the bank will subject him/her to intense scrutiny before approving him/her.

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The Farce Continues

The ongoing farce over Paul Wolfowitz, the embattled soon to be ex president of the World Bank, continues.

The meeting of the World Bank's executive board adjourned last night, without a decision on Wolfowitz's future.

The bank's board spent the day discussing the report on Wolfowitz, and issued the following statement:

"The executive directors of the World Bank group continued their deliberations on issues raised by the report of the ad hoc group and in their meetings with Mr Wolfowitz yesterday. They will continue their deliberations tomorrow morning."

The committee is expected to endorse the report, and call for Wolfowitz's resignation.

Wolfowitz doesn't publicly, as yet, want to go quietly. His lawyer, Robert Bennett, suggested that Wolfowitz was happy to force the board into a showdown:

"Mr Wolfowitz will not resign under this ethical cloud and he will rather put this matter to a full vote."

This show of bravado is of course a negotiating tactic, designed to maximise his payoff and public plaudits when he actually resigns later this week.

Germany's development minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul summed it up succinctly:

"...would do the bank and himself a great service if he resigned. That would be the best for all involved."

Wolfowitz's tenure is over, such is the price for breaking ethical guidelines.

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The End Game

The end of Paul Woilfowtiz's career as president of the World bank is now in sight, all that is happening now is an elaborate negotiation about the terms on which he should leave.

On Tuesday evening, after World Bank directors accused Wolfowitz of breaking ethics rules in negotiating a promotion and salary raise for his companion, Wolfowitz pleaded with them to give him another chance.

Wolfowitz urged directors to separate the specific mistakes he may have made in handling his companion's reassignment, and larger questions about his contentious two-year tenure at the bank.

"If you want to have a discussion about my leadership, my management style and the policies I support, let's do it.

That's fair. That's legitimate. But let's get past this conflict-of-interest matter that was resolved over a year ago."

This last minute plea is unlikely to save him, as President Bush has now signalled that he is prepared to "allow" (in Bush's mind he has the power to keep Wolfowitz in situ - he does not) Wolfowitz to resign.

Bush has let it be known, that he would "allow" resignation if the bank board dropped its insistence to declare him unfit to remain in office.

However, as with many "new initiatives" and "changes of mind" that Bush proposes, this is too little too late. The majority of the countries who fund the bank are absolutely against allowing an easy opt out for Wolfowtiz, partly this being a reaction against Bush and his administration's unilateralism over the past 6 years.

It seems that the board will endorse the findings of a special committee that Wolfowitz broke bank rules, ethics and governance standards in arranging for, and concealing, a pay and promotion package for his companion, Shaha Ali Riza, in 2005.

Now is the time for Wolfowtiz to bring his lawyers in to discuss his severance package.

Another mess caused by the ineptitude of the Bush administration, that will have consequences for America's relationship with the rest of the world.

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Fuck Them

Paul Wolfowitz, the embattled president of the World Bank, has had his public image further tarnished by revelations that he poured abuse and threatened retaliations on senior World Bank staff if his orders for pay rises and promotions for his partner were revealed.

The revelations were contained in a report prepared by investigators that has been sent ot the bank's governing board.

In the report, one witness (Xavier Coll, head of human resources at the bank) gave testimony that Wolfowitz said:

"If they fuck with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too."

The report criticises Wolfowitz for his "questionable judgment and a preoccupation with self-interest"

Quote:

"Mr Wolfowitz saw himself as the outsider to whom the established rules and standards did not apply."

As any experienced and ethical business leader will tell you, it's not just what you do but what you are seen to do and how you conduct yourself that counts. You need to be whiter than white, when you are given the privileges and responsibilities of office.

The report pooh poohs Wolfowitz's defence that he thought he had been asked to arrange Ms Riza's pay package, "the interpretation given by Mr Wolfowitz ... simply turns logic on its head".

In other words, the report calls Wolfowitz a liar.

The report states that Wolfowitz's actions "had a dramatic negative effect on the reputation and credibility" of the bank.

It concludes that "the damage done to the reputation of the World Bank group" should lead the bank's board to "consider whether Mr Wolfowitz will be able to provide the leadership needed to ensure that the bank continues to operate to the fullest extent possible".

"..Mr Wolfowitz's contract requiring that he adhere to the code of conduct for board officials and that he avoid any conflict of interest, real or apparent, [was] violated."

In other words it calls for him to be fired, because he broke the rules.

It really is a simple as that, the fact that Wolfowitz chooses not to accept this means that the governing body will have to publicly fire him; a humiliation for the bank, Wolfowtiz and President Bush (who appointed him).

Wolfowitz appears before the bank's executive board today to make a final defence of his actions, with the board meeting tomorrow to consider the report and make a statement later in the week.

Ironically vice president Dick Cheney defended Mr Wolfowitz, saying: "Paul is one of the most able public servants I've ever known .... I think he's a very good president of the World Bank, and I hope he will be able to continue."

Public support from the likes of Cheney can hardly add to Wolfowitz's credibility; for Wolfowitz it is but a matter of time before he goes, he is finished.

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Tick Tock

The end days for Paul Wolfowitz, the embattled President of the World Bank, are now in sight.

A panel of seven directors investigating the Wolfowitz scandal, stopped short of saying he acted in bad faith. However, they have given him until May 9 (today) to respond. The group also faulted the bank's ethics committee for giving him insufficient guidance on how to avoid a conflict of interest.

The findings will next be considered by the bank's full board, which may meet this week.

Support for Wolfowitz has all but disappeared in Europe, and is fading fast in Washington. President Bush will have to engineer a face saving exit for his former deputy defence secretary.

Germany's director at the World Bank has been instructed by his government to co-ordinate a board campaign against Wolfowitz.

Wolfowitz, for the moment, has vowed to stay.

President Bush, having publicly supported Wolfowitz, has now backtracked by allowing White House spokesman Tony Snow to say that Bush "has confidence" in Wolfowitz.

Wolfowitz is finished, the longer he stays the more damage he does to the credibility of the World Bank.

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The World Bank Fiasco

I hold my hands up to mistakenly saying on Friday, with confidence, that Paul Wolfowitz would be out of his job as president of the World Bank by the end of the day.

Monday morning, and he is still there vowing to stay on.

However, whilst I may have got the timing of his departure wrong, I am confident that his position is now untenable and he will soon be gone.

Unfortunately for the World Bank, and those hapless impoverished nations that rely on it, Wolfowitz's dogged determination to stay on and the rancour and negative publicity that this pig headedness is causing does the institution and those that it serves no good whatsoever.

The final nails in the coffin of Wolfowitz's career were driven in on Sunday, when the oversight committee of the bank delivered a public rebuke of his leadership, expressing "great concern" about the institution's future and the need to preserve its credibility and staff morale.

In simple terms, they want him to fall on his sword and go.

Unfortunately, Wolfowitz just doesn't seem to get it; he is working under the delusion that it is alright for him to act outwith the ethical requirements of the bank in the time honoured tradition of "do as I say, not as I do". He is also naively trying to ride the storm out.

The simple fact is that this storm will not die down, the European countries that contribute to the funding of the bank (such as the UK) want him gone. His only support comes from his friends President Bush and Dick Cheney, as the old saying goes "with friends like those..."

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Sex, Power and Money

Sex, power and money are a heady combination; as any seasoned politician, member of the media or hooker will tell you.

Paul Wolfowitz, Head of the World Bank, has also learnt of the power of such a combination.

His position within the World Bank now looks untenable, as he was publicly booed and heckled by his own staff at a meeting, and forced to leave.

His crime?

Wolfowitz personally intervened to obtain a pay rise for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, who works at the bank. he got her a nice little earner from $132,660 to $193,590 tax free.

Aside from the obvious ethical issues surrounding the merits of this pay rise, the bank rules actually forbid couples from working together.

Ironically Wolfowitz, who was an advocate of the Iraq war when he was Deputy Defence Secretary for President Bush (who appointed him to the bank), is a strong advocate for tough rules on corruption and corporate governance.

He has forgotten the cardinal rule, lead by example. Those at the top of an organisation must not only be ethical, but must be seen to be ethical.

He will be out of office by the end of the day.

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