European countries that joined together to force the resignation of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz are unlikely to pick a fight with Washington over the naming of his successor.
At a meeting of G8 finance ministers near Potsdam, Germany, European officials said they would like to see a qualified candidate who could restore credibility to the poverty-fighting institution and heal the wounds of Wolfowitz's departure.
But none are questioning the traditional right of the United States to pick the new president of the Washington-based institution and several said they assumed an American would replace Wolfowitz, forced out this week over his handling of a high-paying promotion for his bank-employee companion.
"Such a decision could be made easier by sticking to the current procedure, and giving the United States the first go at filling this position," German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck, who holds the G8 presidency, told reporters in Potsdam. "I wouldn't change that now."
Other Europeans echoed that line, with a French official saying his country was not looking for a conflict with Washington on the issue. The United States, the bank's largest shareholder, has named the World Bank chief since the bank's inception over 60 years ago. European countries have traditionally chosen the head of the bank's sister organisation, the International Monetary Fund.
Some critics have suggested these practices should be revamped in the wake of Wolfowitz's rocky two-year tenure and the bank's staff association has said the institution's credibility hinged on a more transparent succession process.
PAULSON EYES QUICK DECISION German and Italian officials said they had already received calls on the Wolfowitz succession from US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who chose not to attend the Potsdam meeting.
Paulson told the Germans he wanted to move quickly in choosing a candidate, a German official said, and other sources indicated Washington hoped to name their pick by early June. Among the names being discussed are Paulson's deputy Robert Kimmitt, who came to Potsdam in his place.
Former US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Republican Senator Richard Lugar and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker are also being mentioned as potential candidates. Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair is seen as a dark horse contender.
Kimmitt told reporters in Potsdam that Paulson was not discussing specific names yet and European officials carefully avoided expressing a preference for who should get the job.
Wounds are still raw following a six-week struggle by Wolfowitz to cling to his job in the face of fierce opposition from the Europeans and senior staff within the bank. A former senior Pentagon official and key architect of the Iraq war, Wolfowitz's appointment in 2005 was unpopular but not seriously challenged by the bank's big shareholders.
He is due to leave his post on June 30. German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, one of Wolfowitz's fiercest critics in recent weeks, said the bank had been weakened by the affair and urged an open dialogue between donor and developing nations to restore confidence. "If that happens then nothing speaks against an American candidate," she told the Frankfurter Rundschau daily.
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