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Pious Perverts See other Pious Perverts Articles Title: Former ethics panel chief disputes Wolfowitz claim Former ethics panel chief disputes Wolfowitz claim Posted online: Thursday, May 03, 2007 at 0000 hrs WASHINGTON, May 2: The former chairman of the World Bank’s ethics committee on Tuesday accused the institution’s embattled president, Paul Wolfowitz, of misleading a panel investigating his role in granting his girlfriend a raise. In a written submission to the investigating committee, former ethics chairman Ad Melkert contradicted Wolfowitz’s assertion that he fully informed bank officers of his handling of his girlfriend’s transfer to the State Department and that his actions had their blessing. “I am deeply hurt by efforts to manipulate information,” Melkert said. He maintained that his panel was never consulted on the details of a promotion-and-raise Wolfowitz’s attorney Robert Bennett said his client was being unfairly blamed for following the instructions of the ethics panel by finding another job for his companion, Shaha Riza, a senior World Bank official, to avoid a conflict of interest when he arrived at the bank. Melkert, now a top administrator at the UN Development Programme, chaired the ethics committee of the World Bank when Wolfowitz took over as president in 2005. According to Melkert, Wolfowitz had been advised by the panel that Riza, a West Asia expert, needed to be transferred to a job beyond his supervision and that she was entitled to compensation for the disruption in her career. But Melkert said his committee was never told the details of the raise Wolfowitz approved—a jump from about $133,000 a year to over $190,000, with guaranteed promotions in later years. “It is completely incomprehensible that subsequently Wolfowitz did exactly what he originally had proposed not to do: to engage directly in personnel matters concerning his partner,” Melkert said. Bennett said Riza suggested the salary numbers herself, basing them on the middle range for someone who had attained her status at the bank. Melkert’s words came a day after Roberto Danino, a former general counsel for the bank, told the investigating panel that Wolfowitz had acted “incorrectly” in instructing the bank’s vice-president for human resources to extend “an extraordinary salary increase,” according to his written submission. Danino excoriated Wolfowitz, saying he withheld information about the raise, and that Wolfowitz had “damaged the reputation of the bank and eroded his moral authority to lead.” LAT-WP Bank concerned, to resolve row soon Washington: The World Bank board has promised the “earliest possible resolution” of the Wolfowitz issue. The 24-member board, which met the investigating panel on Tuesday, said the next step is for the panel to “draw its conclusions from the information obtained from the documents and during the course of the interviews” and submit a report to the directors. The directors will decide on the action. The board could ask Wolfowitz to resign, signal it lacks confidence in his leadership, reprimand him or take no action. There may also be a compromise under which Wolfowitz is found to have acted in good faith and will resign later. AP editor@expressindia.com
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