Further Bank staff rumblings. Former and present Bank staff continue to raise a fuss. Former Bank head of personnel Dr A. P. Williams questions: "should the governments of the world tamely acquiesce in the desire of the Bush administration to hand the presidency of the world's leading development institution as a consolation prize to someone who: would really have preferred to be secretary of defence"?

He continues, in a letter to the FT: "there is a high probability that Mr Wolfowitz, being intelligent and energetic but seriously wrong-headed, would do a great deal, not just to one hapless country but to many others besides".

Many current Bank staff feel likewise. One wrote today to say "I have yet to talk to anyone who has not reacted with shock and disappointment".

As we mentioned previously staff have the opportunity to feed their comments via the Bank's Staff Association, the head of which distributed the following e-mail yesterday.

Staff Association

03/22/2005 01:27

Subject: Presidential nomination: send the Staff Assocation your comments

Dear Colleagues,

Further to the March 17 Staff Association's message, we have met with Mr.
Wolfensohn and have spoken to the Dean of the Board. Both have indicated concern for staff opinions and welcomed the Staff Association's initiative to gather staff views and present them for consideration to the Board during the confirmation process. The Board recognizes that staff are central to the effectiveness of the Bank's mission to reduce poverty.

The Staff Association has launched a confidential feedback channel for staff to comment on the nomination of Dr. Paul Wolfowitz as the new President of the World Bank. Comments can be posted via the following link: http://sa/feedback/ or through the Staff Association's website. In the next 24 hours, (c.o.b. Tuesday, March 22nd), we will sort and summarize the responses, which will be delivered to the Executive Directors. We will also provide the Executive Directors with hard copies of the comments with ALL identifying information carefully removed.

The Staff Association will faithfully communicate to the Board the full range of staff views and concerns, without "spin." We feel this is the most effective way to ensure that staff views are taken into account.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Alison Cave
Chair
World Bank Group Staff Association

Alex Wilks ~ March 22, 2005

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