Sri
Mulyani closer to WB top post
Natasha Ardiani, A MASTER OF PUBLIC POLICY
CANDIDATE AT THE CRAWFORD SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND GOVERNMENT, THE AUSTRALIAN
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, CANBERRA
SUMBER : JAKARTA POST, 12 Maret 2012
As Robert Zoellick retires,
speculation on who is going to be in the hot seat of World Bank president is
getting louder. During its almost seven decades in existence, there is an
unwritten rule that the World Bank’s board simply designates an American to be
the president.
Ironically, none of all 11 presidents have been an expert in its core task of economic development. The board has selected mostly politicians and Wall Street bankers, expecting the bank’s policy outcomes would cater to US corporate interests.
Although history has taught us that the World Bank president has always been an American, the current buzz tells us that it could change. An online poll on the worldbankpresident.org site has been organized to recognize the people’s voice on who deserves to be the next World Bank president.
None other than Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the former Indonesian finance minister, won a staggering 13,070 of the more than 15,000 votes registered from around the globe. It is expected that the poll can stir up the official selection process.
Her name is being mentioned along with those of eight other figures, namely vice president and director of the global economy and development program at the Brookings Institute Kemal Dervis (a former World Bank staffer), former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet (currently the executive director of UN Women), former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Indian Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva, former South African finance minister Trevor Manuel and former president of Mozambique Luisa Diogo.
Sri Mulyani is said to be a potential candidate, despite the dominance of Americans in the post. Always praised for her brightness, clearness and straightforwardness, the three-times best Asian finance minister said, in a recent interview with Jim Middleton, that even if opportunity arose, it would be still up to the stakeholders to decide who is going to be the president of the Bank.
In the meantime, the current World Bank managing director is dealing with managing growth in China and other emerging economies, battling corruption, and overseeing the entire operations of the Bank.
As the odds for a non-American president have increased, renowned American economist Jeffrey Sachs has decided to run for the position. This Harvard graduate is no stranger to fighting poverty in developing countries or distributing nets for malaria in Africa. His track record in academic papers, as well as in development projects, stretches almost 30 years.
He is the current director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, as he is the go-to guy for analyzing the success of aid distribution. His dedication in fighting global poverty, proven by his lines of selected works, dedication to Harvard and Columbia universities, and his directorship of the UN Millennium Project, are among his credentials. Taking the game up a notch, Sachs published an op-ed in The Washington Post claiming to be suited to the job.
Sri Mulyani becoming one of the Bank’s managing directors has been considered as a heroic act by Indonesians. She single-handedly fostered reforms in the political and economic sector in Indonesia by discharging more than 150 of the Finance Ministry’s personnel.
One of her most memorable acts was her war against graft, and this is what also saw her ranked as the 23rd most powerful women in the world.
It is legitimate to say that she will have a better chance to become the Bank’s next president if Indonesia’s government, along with other emerging economies, work together and give her the political support that she needs.
At this point in time, when the US is massively indebted to China, they would want to choose a president who would cater to their corporate interests more than ever.
Sachs is not the only strong American contender. In fact, Lawrence Summers (former White House economic adviser) and Hillary Clinton (US Secretary of State) are among the leading candidates.
Would Sri Mulyani, with her experience in reforming Indonesia to the point of becoming one of the most exciting emerging economies and with the full support from other emerging countries, be able to become the Bank’s next president?
Or will it be yet another American, such as Summers, Clinton or Sachs? The US is currently the biggest stakeholder of the World Bank and is expected to decide the winner. We all hope for a more transparent and realistic merit-based selection, after the Bank announces the contenders on March 23. Who will get the job? Only time will tell. ●
Ironically, none of all 11 presidents have been an expert in its core task of economic development. The board has selected mostly politicians and Wall Street bankers, expecting the bank’s policy outcomes would cater to US corporate interests.
Although history has taught us that the World Bank president has always been an American, the current buzz tells us that it could change. An online poll on the worldbankpresident.org site has been organized to recognize the people’s voice on who deserves to be the next World Bank president.
None other than Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the former Indonesian finance minister, won a staggering 13,070 of the more than 15,000 votes registered from around the globe. It is expected that the poll can stir up the official selection process.
Her name is being mentioned along with those of eight other figures, namely vice president and director of the global economy and development program at the Brookings Institute Kemal Dervis (a former World Bank staffer), former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet (currently the executive director of UN Women), former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Indian Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva, former South African finance minister Trevor Manuel and former president of Mozambique Luisa Diogo.
Sri Mulyani is said to be a potential candidate, despite the dominance of Americans in the post. Always praised for her brightness, clearness and straightforwardness, the three-times best Asian finance minister said, in a recent interview with Jim Middleton, that even if opportunity arose, it would be still up to the stakeholders to decide who is going to be the president of the Bank.
In the meantime, the current World Bank managing director is dealing with managing growth in China and other emerging economies, battling corruption, and overseeing the entire operations of the Bank.
As the odds for a non-American president have increased, renowned American economist Jeffrey Sachs has decided to run for the position. This Harvard graduate is no stranger to fighting poverty in developing countries or distributing nets for malaria in Africa. His track record in academic papers, as well as in development projects, stretches almost 30 years.
He is the current director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, as he is the go-to guy for analyzing the success of aid distribution. His dedication in fighting global poverty, proven by his lines of selected works, dedication to Harvard and Columbia universities, and his directorship of the UN Millennium Project, are among his credentials. Taking the game up a notch, Sachs published an op-ed in The Washington Post claiming to be suited to the job.
Sri Mulyani becoming one of the Bank’s managing directors has been considered as a heroic act by Indonesians. She single-handedly fostered reforms in the political and economic sector in Indonesia by discharging more than 150 of the Finance Ministry’s personnel.
One of her most memorable acts was her war against graft, and this is what also saw her ranked as the 23rd most powerful women in the world.
It is legitimate to say that she will have a better chance to become the Bank’s next president if Indonesia’s government, along with other emerging economies, work together and give her the political support that she needs.
At this point in time, when the US is massively indebted to China, they would want to choose a president who would cater to their corporate interests more than ever.
Sachs is not the only strong American contender. In fact, Lawrence Summers (former White House economic adviser) and Hillary Clinton (US Secretary of State) are among the leading candidates.
Would Sri Mulyani, with her experience in reforming Indonesia to the point of becoming one of the most exciting emerging economies and with the full support from other emerging countries, be able to become the Bank’s next president?
Or will it be yet another American, such as Summers, Clinton or Sachs? The US is currently the biggest stakeholder of the World Bank and is expected to decide the winner. We all hope for a more transparent and realistic merit-based selection, after the Bank announces the contenders on March 23. Who will get the job? Only time will tell. ●
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