Consequences if he stays

What the Board of Governors said about Wolfowitz:

"We have to ensure that the Bank can effectively carry out its mandate and maintain its credibility and reputation as well as the motivation of its staff. The current situation is of great concern to all of us. We endorse the Board's actions in looking into this matter and we asked it to complete its work. We expect the Bank to adhere to a high standard of internal governance."

The following points summarize some of the most costly consequences if Wolfowitz is not forced to resign:

· Deterioration in Reputation... The tarnished reputation of the institution will not be restored without the closure that Wolfowitz's departure would bring. The brand of the World Bank has already been damaged under Wolfowitz's management style and his repeated difficulties with the Board and his managers. The Bank will find itself in a position where it has greater difficulty in attracting the high-quality staff needed to carry out the Bank's operations. It is highly likely that if Wolfowitz were to be retained, many long-serving Bank staff would leave the organization given the high levels of distrust and moral outrage at his behavior and leadership style.
· Loss of Credibility on Governance and Anti-Corruption...
· Breach of Staff's Trust...
· Diminished Ethical Standards of Top Management...
· Lost Confidence of Board of Directors...
· Department of Integrity...
· Double Standard of Ethics...
· Relationship with Development Partners...
· IDA 15 Replenishment...

What part of 'resign' don't you understand?

Heat on Wolfowitz as World Bank directors meet
Jitendra Joshi April 19 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Embattled president Paul Wolfowitz looked more isolated than ever Thursday as directors met to debate his fate amid the rumblings of a civil war among senior staff...

..."It's not about management style. It's not about interaction with staff," the source said on condition of anonymity.

"There was an exasperation that was conveyed to Wolfowitz: what part of 'resign' don't you understand?"

Click Here for full story

European NGOs back resignation

40 European civil society groups backed calls for Wolfowitz's resignation in an open letter to European development and finance ministers today.
19 April 2007

Dear Ministers,

European civil society backs Wolfowitz resignation calls and urges comprehensive reform of World Bank governance...

See comments for full list and full story

Eurodad.org

Williams & Connolly and Ana Palacio – Tell What You Know

Apr 16 2007
What do Ana Palacio, Robert Barnett, and Jonathan Kravis all have in common?

Washington, D.C., April 16 - The answer to the question is that they all work for Paul Wolfowitz. Ana Palacio is the Bank's Chief General Counsel. On April 9 she announced to staff that she was hiring law firm Williams & Connolly LLP to investigate the leak of Bank documents to Fox News. The attorney on the case is Jonathan Kravis.

On April 12 staff learned that Robert Barnett, a lawyer at Williams & Connolly LLP, is Paul Wolfowitz's personal lawyer. Staff learned this as they waded through over 100 pages of documents outlining Wolfowitz's role in a sleaze and corruption scandal that has rocked the Bank. World Bank staff are said to be baffled that Palacio is not aware that there is more than one law firm in Washington. Could this be a conflict of interest? The following process should have been required of Williams & Connolly. Was it? Who has more on this? Is Kravis supervised by Barnett?

Call to Safeguard Reproductive Health at the World Bank and Secure Wolfowitz's Resignation

A key figure in the World Bank, said to have links to the Roman Catholic sect Opus Dei, was accused on April 15 of undermining its commitment to the health of women by ordering the deletion of goals, targets and policies relating to family planning.

Juan Jose Daboub, the bank's managing director, ordered staff to remove all references to family planning from its country assistance programme document for Madagascar. Mr Daboub is the former finance minister of El Salvador and a member of the Arena party, which has close ties to the Catholic church.

The Government Accountability Project has the documents in the health scandal at the World Bank. See the UK's Guardian on April 16 Leak Prompts Fear Over World Bank Health Policies. The key person at GAP is Bea Edwards beatricee@whistleblower.org Tel: 202-408-0034 ext 155

Write letters to the World Bank's Executive Directors, which they can show to their authorities in their capitals as evidence of overwhelming lack of confidence on the part of civil society in Wolfowitz's ability to lead the Bank. Ask NGO's, parliamentarians, and elected officials to write to the ED's also.

The names, phone numbers and email addresses of the World Bank ED's are here: http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.92.aspx

Language to use:
This is the language used in the statement by the Board of Governors of the World Bank (the Development Committee Communique) on Wolfowitz. It is unprecedented language and extremely strong. The key words that should be used in letters to the Executive Directors are in bold.

We have to ensure that the Bank can effectively carry out its mandate and maintain its credibility and reputation as well as the motivation of its staff. The current situation is of great concern to all of us. We endorse the Board's actions in looking into this matter and we asked it to complete its work. We expect the Bank to adhere to a high standard of internal governance.


Explanation of Terms:
Executive Directors - 24 chairs representing 180 countries, making up a permanently sitting board in D.C.. Executive Directors report to the Boards of Governors of World Bank and IMF.

The Governors are Minister level - Finance or Development Cooperation, and Central Bank Governors. They are elected officials sensitive to public perception in home countries. They should be written to also. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is Governor for the United States.

What do Ana Palacio, Robert Barnett, and Jonathan Kravis all have in common? More allegations of sleaze and corruption

Washington, D.C., April 16 -- The answer to the question is that they all work for Paul Wolfowitz. Ana Palacio is the Bank's Chief General Counsel. On April 9 she announced to staff that she was hiring law firm Williams & Connolly LLP to investigate the leak of Bank documents to Fox News. The attorney on the case is Jonathan Kravis.

On April 12 staff learned that Robert Barnett, a lawyer at Williams & Connolly LLP, is Paul Wolfowitz's personal lawyer. Staff learned this as they waded through over 100 pages of documents outlining Wolfowitz's role in a sleaze and corruption scandal that has rocked the Bank.

World Bank staff are said to be baffled that Palacio is not aware that there is more than one law firm in Washington.

Could this be a conflict of interest ? The following process should have been required of Williams & Connolly. Was it?

1. The partner representing the new client (The Board) would have to inform the other partners, disclosing the nature of any potential conflict of interest, and the partnership would decide whether to take on the new client in this matter. The requesting partner would then be required to disclose the pre-existing interest to the new client, and the counsel for the new client would have had to sign a waiver.
2. The firm would have documentation of this waiver
3. Presumably, the counsel would have informed her client (the Board) of the potential conflict.
4. The firm would/should have these records, for if the waiver were not documented the law firm itself would vulnerable to a major scandal.

Questions the World Bank Board might have

1. The client (Board) is entitled to request this documentation from Williams & Connolly.
2. The client would be entitled to know if the partner supervising Mr. Kravis (the Associate handling the Fox leak investigation) was Robert Barnett.

Robert Barnett can be reached at Williams & Connolly LLP, Tel: 202-434-5034, email: rbarnett@wc.com

Jonathon Kravis can be reached at Williams & Connolly LLP, Tel: 202-434-5206, email: jkravis@wc.com

Sweetheart Deals Not Limited to Sweethearts

Financial Times, April 15, 2007 -- Two sources told the Financial Times that Xavier Coll, the bank's senior human resources officer, was not consulted over the terms and conditions offered to Robin Cleveland and Kevin Kellems, former Bush administration officials who Mr Wolfowitz brought with him to the bank.

Ms Cleveland and Mr Kellems were given salaries of about $250,000 (£126,000) net of tax – the same amount paid to the highest ranked career bank officials, who typically have 25 years of development experience

World Bank policy is that the president has the authority to make an appointment at any level, but it would be normal for the head of HR to be consulted over the terms of such appointments, two sources told the FT. It is understood that mid-ranking HR officials were consulted over the appointments.

The FT's revelations are potentially damaging because they suggest that irregular processes over appointments under Mr Wolfowitz were not limited to his personal involvement in the Riza affair.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e7fea16e-eb81-11db-b290-000b5df10621.html

Editorials call for Wolfowitz to resign, cite need for good governance at Bank

Washington D.C., April 15, 2007 -- The editorial pages of newspapers across the world today called for Wolfowitz to resign, adding pressure to the World Bank's Board of Governors as they meet in Washington this weekend.

Facing a rising tide of public outrage at the sleaze and corruption scandal engulfing the Bank's President, Governors must decide whether to call for his resignation or risk leaving the institution severely compromised with Wolfowitz at the helm. Editorial pages in the UK, Kenya, France, Pakistan, and Turkey carried calls for Wolfowitz to go.

The International Herald Tribune said: What might Wolfowitz himself say if he discovered that a government receiving World Bank loans was making similar sweet arrangements for the personal friends of its president?

Governors are being challenged by public opinion in their respective capitals to demonstrate that they are practicing good governance at the Bank, and promoting transparency and accountability in the Wolfowitz matter.

Wolfowitz appears unrepentant and unclear that he has done wrong. An email to all staff late Saturday was a step back from his position of Thursday when he apologized for his "mistake". On Saturday, he did not apologize for the damage done to the Bank or offer further explanation but said that "misleading information was circulating".

Staff are said to be angry at the lack of action by the Bank's board, saying that the damage to the Bank's ability to fulfill its mandate in developing countries is enormous.

International Herald Tribune editorial calls for Wolfowitz resignation

The International Herald Tribune today joined the growing chorus calling for Wolfowitz to go when its editorial page asked:

"What might Wolfowitz himself say if he discovered that a government receiving World Bank loans was making similar sweet arrangements for the personal friends of its president?"

The IHT joins The Financial Times, Le Monde, Pakistan's Daily Times, Turkish Daily News, Kenya's Sunday Nation, Jamaica Gleaner, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Star-Ledger, Sunday Herald, and Investor's Business Daily in calling for his resignation.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/15/opinion/edwolf.php

World Bank Staff sick of sleaze and corruption, begin letter campaign to Board

World Bank Staff reacted with disgust today to revelations that a staff blog was being censored and that references to a planned demonstration, calling for Wolfowitz' resignation were deleted.

The blog, located on the World Bank intranet, was established on Thursday, April 12, after Executive Directors forced the full disclosure of documents in the Wolfowitz sleaze scandal. The article entitled "Executive Directors Review Report, Release Documents" led to a blog of staff response and comments that had reached 259 individual postings on Saturday evening.

Today staff learned that not all blog postings were being posted in entirety and that any postings that referred to a planned demonstration were disappearing or not being posted.

The revelation cast frightening doubt on the anonymity of staff contributions to the blog, leaving hundreds of staff who have blogged anonymously fearing reprisals from the Wolfowitz team.

In response, staff have begun a letter writing campaign to their Executive Directors asking that the Board of the Bank call for Wolfowitz' resignation. The Executive Directors are the sitting chairs of the World Bank board, representing around 180 countries, and are responsible for its governance.

Staff are now blogging at http://wolfowitzmustresign.blogspot.com/