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13th April 2007 - Press release

Following the scandals that have severely damaged the credibility of World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz, Eurodad calls on European governments and the whole membership of the institution to start comprehensive reform of the Bank's leadership selection process. The personal scandals enveloping Wolfowitz make his position untenable. We publicly criticised the appointment of Mr. Wolfowitz as the head of this very influential development institution. The time has come to re-establish the credibility of the multilateral system according to the fundamental principles of democracy and accountability.

"In 2005 several European governments, the European Parliament and nearly 2000 NGOs stated their concerns about the appointment of Mr. Wolfowitz", stated Antonio Tricarico, Director of the Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale in Italy. "His admitted irresponsibility at the Bank's helm show those concerns were well founded. European governments must join others to demand Wolfowitz's resignation and institute real changes. We hear that some European governments propose a backroom deal to throw Wolfowitz a life line. That would be wrong".

Nuria Molina, Eurodad Policy and Advocacy Officer said: "The World Bank's reputation will nose dive further if Wolfowitz is allowed to stay. The Bank's member governments should get rid of the president and institute a new open process for choosing his successor. Unless the institution's governance changes dramatically, the Bank will not be trusted on its substantive issues: leaving poorer people and the environment to suffer". Molina is referring to concerns on World Bank economic policy conditionalities and climate change, which united some 70 European groups in a joint statement issued last month.

Groups from other regions are also raising calls for Wolfowitz's resignation. "The crusader for good governance must fall on his own sword", says Manish Bapna of the Bank Information Center in Washington.

Contacts

Washington:
Nuria Molina - Eurodad +32.473.410 834
Antonio Tricarico - CRBM +1.202.641 29 35
Manish Bapna - Bank Information Centre +1.202.491 85 88

Brussels:
Alex Wilks - Eurodad +32 2 543 90 67.

Related information:

* The joint European statement is at:
www.worldbankcampaigneurope.org

* Frequent updates on the Wolfowitz scandal are being provided on the blog www.worldbankpresident.org

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