Gabriel Rozenberg has a startling
article in the Times today saying not only that the White House was "drawing
up a list of candidates to succeed" the embattled Paul Wolfowitz, but that
"most prominent on the list" is Ashraf Ghani.
The US has historically jealously guarded its customary right to appoint a
US citizen to lead the Bank. Appointing Ghani, an Afghan citizen, would be a
glorious breath of fresh air, at least in terms of dismantling anachronisitic
conventions at the Bretton Woods institutions.
Of course, an article in the Times of London doesn’t quite carry the same weight
as an article in the US press – Rozenberg gives no indication who his
sources are, or how reliable they might be. But the odds of a Wolfowitz ouster
are certainly higher today in the wake of yesterday’s board
meeting. And given how disastrous the appointment of a Bush crony was last
time around, maybe this time the White House might be more inclined to do something
a bit more constructive.
(Via)