Over a month since the controversy over the lavish pay and promotion deal for World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz's partner first erupted, and the man himself is still hanging on. But for how much longer? According to a series of pieces in the print media today, Wolfowitz's days are numbered.
Today's New York Times carries a front page piece suggesting a deal is being cooked up between Europe and the US, with Wolfowitz being encouraged to go quietly in exchange for the Americans retaining their perogative to appoint the next president of the bank.
Another sign of European unease with Wolfowitz - nicknamed "DMW" for Dead Man Walking by bank staff, a play on his initials PDW - is carried on the front page of the Washington Post, explaining that funds for the bank may be withheld as long as Wolfowitz hangs around.
The FT also weighs in with a story that names Robin Cleveland - one of the close aides Wolfowitz brought with him to the bank - as the author of a misleading comment given to the press when the controversy first broke into the public last month. The statement claimed that the bank's senior legal officer and the governing board's ethics committee had approved the deal that benefited Shah Riza, Wolfowitz's partner. That statement, sent to the media as from a senior bank official, was disputed as false by the bank's top legal officer and chairman of the ethics committee.
Yesterday Kevin Kellems, one of the Wolfowitz inner circle, suddenly quit. Is Cleveland the next to leave the SS Wolfowitz, or will she stay on the bridge? Will the captain go down with the ship? A run-through the various detailed scenarios by Alex Wilks of blog worldbankpresident.org is here.
