April 26, 2007 Wolfowitz Escalates Battle to Stay at Bank By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
WASHINGTON, April 25 — Escalating his campaign to remain president of the World Bank, Paul D. Wolfowitz accused the bank’s board on Wednesday of treating him “shabbily and unfairly,” and appealed for more time to defend himself against allegations of favoritism and other matters.
Mr. Wolfowitz, increasingly isolated at the bank and facing a board seemingly determined to force his resignation, sent a letter to the head of a board panel dealing with issues affecting his leadership, asking to appear before the board next week in the interest of “fairness to me” and “good governance” at the bank. ...
Bank officials described many on the 24-member board as having been taken aback by the tough tone of the letter but said the board appeared likely to grant Mr. Wolfowitz at least some of his request, perhaps by allowing him to appear next week, though not necessarily with his newly hired lawyer, Robert S. Bennett.
... [E]vidence of European opposition to Mr. Wolfowitz continued to spread as the European Parliament, the legislature of the European Union, called on him to resign to avoid undermining the bank’s own campaign against corruption in poor countries.
The bank’s board had earlier signaled its disinclination to allow Mr. Bennett, a well-known Washington lawyer and deal maker, to appear with Mr. Wolfowitz or to give him the month he had requested to make his case. ...
The board, whose members represent various countries or groups of countries, is considering a number of options. The most extreme would be to invoke governance rules allowing the board to remove a president outright, though some officials said that was unlikely.
Alternatively, the board could reprimand Mr. Wolfowitz or call for his resignation with a kind of no-confidence vote. Another alternative would be to do nothing but negotiate with the United States, the Europeans and others for Mr. Wolfowitz to resign voluntarily.
The board members are divided, though only tactically; the majority still want him out, various officials said. The centers of opposition are in Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
But the board was described as puzzled and put off by Mr. Wolfowitz’s decision, disclosed this week, to bring in Mr. Bennett, who is known as a litigator but also as someone who can make a deal in situations that seem beyond compromise. ...
A top European official involved in setting bank policy said there could be a deal avoiding a censure of Mr. Wolfowitz but that it had to involve Mr. Wolfowitz leaving the bank.
“There are a lot of people at the bank asking, ‘What is Wolfowitz thinking?’ ” the official said. “It just looks like Wolfowitz is ramping up the pressure. I think the bank directors are looking for a deal to avoid a confrontation. But he’s got to go as part of it. Letting him stay is not an option.”
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/washington/26wolfowitz.html?pagewanted=print>
Carl
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