March 17, 2005

Wolfowitz: Terrible Choice for World Bank President

Friends of the Earth International

March 16, 2005, Washington, DC -- Friends of the Earth International today condemned President Bush’s nomination of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank, the world’s leading
multilateral lending institution.

Friends of the Earth called for the rejection of Wolfowitz’s candidacy as the next World Bank President.

“This is a terrible choice,” said David Waskow, Director of the International Program at Friends of the Earth-United States. “At a time of immense global challenges, Wolfowitz has no relevant expertise in alleviating poverty or addressing critical environmental issues like global warming. He is the wrong person for this job.”

“There's never been a time when the world was in greater need of cooperative leadership,” Waskow added. “Instead, Bush has put forward one of the principal architects of his administration's unilateralist policies. Wolfowitz has shown nothing but disdain for collaboration
with other countries. How's he going to run the World Bank, and to what end?”

Janneke Bruil, Co-Coordinator, International Financial Institutions Program for Friends of the Earth International said, “The World Bank is an international institution that touches the lives of billions of people around the world. The process of choosing its leader should be open and transparent. But by making this decision behind closed doors, the World Bank has yet again failed miserably to uphold democracy,” she added.

For more information contact:

In Washington, DC (US):

David Waskow, +1-202-222-0716, dwaskow@foe.org
Dick Bell, 202-222-0742, dbell@foe.org

Or to arrange an interview contact:

Damian Sullivan (Melbourne, Australia)
ph: (03) 9419-8700
damian.sullivan@foe.org.au