Posted on 04/13/2007 12:14:46 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz admitted on Thursday he made a mistake and apologized for his handling of the promotion and pay increase of his girlfriend and staffer Shaha Riza.
Wolfowitz defended an agreement he signed off on that gave Riza a promotion with a pay rise before she was assigned to the State Department to avoid a potential conflict of interest.
"I proposed to the board that they establish some mechanism to judge whether the agreement reached was a reasonable outcome," Wolfowitz said in a statement he read at a news conference before meetings of finance ministers in Washington this weekend.
"I will accept any remedies they propose," he said. "In hindsight, I wish I had trusted my original instincts and kept myself out of the negotiations. I made a mistake, for which I am sorry."
The bank's board, which includes representatives from the bank's 185 member countries, met on the matter on Thursday, focusing on whether Wolfowitz bent the rules on Riza's promotion and violated staff rules.
By late Thursday night, board officials told Reuters a final statement was still being prepared.
In a new twist, Wolfowitz also requested the board in writing "in the interest of transparency" to release all communication between him and board officials on the issue.
As the board began its deliberations, the bank's employee representative group called for Wolfowitz to resign.
"The president must acknowledge that his conduct has compromised the integrity and effectiveness of the World Bank Group and has destroyed the staff's trust in his leadership," according to written remarks presented at the meeting by staff association chair Alison Cave and obtained by Reuters.
"He must act honorably and resign," she said.
Cave said it seemed impossible for the institution, whose mission is to fight global poverty, to move forward "with any sense of purpose under the present leadership."
WOLFOWITZ AT STAFF MEETING
Witnesses said Wolfowitz came to the meeting and defended his actions to the staff, who have been in an uproar since the staff association questioned the promotion and pay increase of Riza, prompting an investigation by the board.
Wolfowitz, who was nominated for the bank job in 2005 by President George W. Bush, joined the institution from the Pentagon, where he was one of the architects of Iraq war.
Lingering distrust among many staff members and resentment over his close ties to the Bush administration and his role in the Iraq war has overshadowed his first two years at the bank.
"For those people who disagree with the things that they associate me with in my previous job -- I'm not in my previous job," Wolfowitz said. "I'm not working for the U.S. government."
The White House reiterated its support for him. "In dealing with this issue he has taken full responsibility and is working with the executive board to resolve it," White House spokesman Tony Fratto told Reuters.
Development group Oxfam said in a statement such controversies could be avoided if the choice of World Bank president was not a U.S. political appointment.
Wolfowitz said when he joined the bank he told the board about his relationship with Riza to address potential conflict of interest issues. He said he took the advice of the board's ethics committee to relocate Riza, a former senior communications officer in the Middle East Department.
"This was not in any way an attempt to protect personal interests," he said.
OK we believe you, just step right up to the Gallows next to the I-Man.
Wolfowitz said. "I'm not working for the U.S. government."
Globalist institutions: Where American interests come last.
Wolfowitz is going to get burned down over this girlfriend thing. He was doubly unwise when everyone there would be gunning for him over his role in the Iraq policy.
Looks like A-Q may have found Wolfowitz’a weakness.
You quoted this — Wolfowitz said. “I’m not working for the U.S. government.”
And then you said — “Globalist institutions: Where American interests come last.”
Well, that’s not an accurate portrayal of what the article was saying and neither is it an accurate portrayal of what Wolfowitz said. Note the following, where it’s indicated that many of the staff did not like his *close ties* to the Bush Administration and thus, Wolfowitz was saying that his “present job” is not his “former job.”
Lingering distrust among many staff members and resentment over his close ties to the Bush administration and his role in the Iraq war has overshadowed his first two years at the bank.
“For those people who disagree with the things that they associate me with in my previous job — I’m not in my previous job,” Wolfowitz said. “I’m not working for the U.S. government.”
If someone did not read the article — they would never get the proper meaning or the right context from what you said...
Regards,
Star Traveler
See the other discussion that went on about this. It clears up a few things in that discussion...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1816244/posts?page=58#58
This was one of my comments, but there are others who supply good information about this situation. Like —
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1816244/posts?page=27#27
or
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1816244/posts?page=34#34
or
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1816244/posts?page=49#49
Regards,
Star Traveler
I hope she was “real purdy”!
Chloe’s Mom.
Riza has been romantically linked to the current head of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, since the time when he was an undersecretary for defense in the Bush Administration.[1]
To avoid conflicts of interests from her relationship with Wolfowitz, Shaha Riza was placed on an external secondment. However, Wolfowitz personally directed that she should be promoted to management just before leaving (receiving a substantial pay raise) and that she has to have further salary increases at rates above the rate ceiling in the Bank.[2] This raised Riza’s salary from $132,660 to $193,590 per year, tax-exempt.[3] The affair is currently under investigation from the World Bank’s board of directors. On April 12, 2007, Wolfowitz apologized for what he called a “mistake”, but would not comment about resigning as the World Bank’s board of governors met to discuss the row: “I’m not going to preempt their deliberations. I will accept any remedies they propose.”[4]
Sorry for the non sequitur, but what does “secondment” mean? I can’t find it anywhere.
Darned if I know
You said — “Darned if I know”
Main Entry: se·cond·ment
Pronunciation: skän(d)mnt
Function: noun
: the detachment of a person (as a military officer) from his regular organization for temporary assignment elsewhere
Citation:
“secondment.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (13 Apr. 2007).
Regards,
Star Traveler
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"That's a **MAN** baby!" |
Online dictionaries abound!
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