Here's an idea - why not evaluate his performance? Besides the farcical process by which Wolfowitz was anointed World Bank president, what this whole affair highlights is the absence of any systems at the Bank to evaluate the performance of its president.

European government officials have reportedly been running around trying to figure out what process there is to handle the incident. The simple answer - there is none. There are no transparent, objective systems in place at the Bank to evaluate the performance of its head (or its board for that matter).

A similar vacuum exists across the street at the Fund. The recent report of the high-level panel on IMF board accountability identified this gap as a key precursor to the effectiveness of any of the other governance reform proposals on the table at the IFIs.

And if a process had existed to evaluate the performance of the head of the Bank? We might have had an objective assessment of not only how Rizagate will affect Wolfowitz's ability to carry out his role but balanced against this would be an examination of whether he is cutting muster as a manager or a leader of the world's most important development institution. Instead we've been subjected to a sad weekend of political partisanship, where public statements in support of the embattled president were more about realpolitik than principle. Staff, member governments and the people the Bank is meant to serve deserve better.

Jeff Powell ~ April 16, 2007

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