America

Wolfowitz appeals to board over his job

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-05-16 14:43

WASHINGTON - Paul Wolfowitz made an emotional appeal to stay on as World Bank president in a last pitch before the bank's board decides whether he has the credibility to lead the poverty-fighting institution.

A file photo of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz gesturing during a news conference at the European Union headquarters in Brussels May 2, 2007. [Reuters]

The US government failed to rally support among its key allies for a strategy aimed at saving Wolfowitz his job, even as a bank panel found that he violated ethics rules.

Wolfowitz remained defiant as he appeared before the 24-nation board, which will resume a meeting on Wednesday to decide his fate in a scandal over a pay and promotion deal he approved in 2005 for his companion, Shaha Riza, a Middle East expert at the bank.

"I respectfully submit, to criticize my actions or to find them as a basis for a loss of confidence would be grossly unfair and would be contrary to the evidence we have presented to you," Wolfowitz said in a statement to the board.

"Rather than fix blame for something that wasn't wrong, we should all acknowledge our responsibility as I have acknowledged mine," he said, conceding he made mistakes.

Wolfowitz has been a controversial figure at the World Bank since his nomination by President George W. Bush in 2005 and has fought misgivings by European member countries over his role in the Iraq war while US deputy defense secretary.

As he faced some of those critics on the board, where Europeans have voiced concern over his continued leadership, Wolfowitz called for a resolution that would be fair.

He also promised he would change his management style to regain the trust of staff who have voiced concern that the leadership crisis had compromised the bank's credibility and its effectiveness in fighting global poverty.

"I implore each of you to be fair in making your decision, because your decision will not only affect my life, it will affect how this institution is viewed in the United States and the world," Wolfowitz told the board.

"You still have the opportunity to avoid long-term damage by resolving this matter in a fair and equitable way that recognizes that we all tried to do the right thing, however imperfectly we went about it."