Zoellick to Replace Wolfowitz as World Bank President

(AXcess News) Washington - The White House is expected to announce President Bush's nomination of Robert Zoellick to replace Paul Wolfowitz who resigned as World Bank president over a pay scandal involving his girlfriend.

Zoellick, who served as Deputy Secretary of State until June of last year, was the No. 2 man in the Bush administration's international State agency.

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow dodged reporters questions this morning aboard Air Force One on the President's flight to Brunswick, GA where Bush was addressing firefighters there and in Florida later today.

When asked point blank if Bush had already made his selection for nomination of a suitable candidate to the World Bank board, Snow said, "The President will name his choice sometime this week."

A Whitehouse spokesperson said later from Capitol Hill that President Bush would name Zoellick as his choice in replacing Wolfowitz who steps down on June 30. But Zoellick will still have to face the World Bank board who has been pitched hard by Europeans who've offered up their own choices for the World Bank presidency, wanting to see a shift in controlling influence over the Bank's operations, away from the United States - its largest contributor.

The United States has historically nominated the President of the World Bank ever since its formation after World War II, but the bank's functions over time have changed to one of financial support for emerging countries globally and many EU member nations say the US has held control long enough.

Wolfowitz's original nomination sparked a global debate with many World Bank member nations criticizing President Bush's nomination of Wolfowitz, saying he was one of the architects of the Iraq invasion while he served in the Intelligence post he held before becoming President of the bank.

With Wolfowitz's scandal surfacing his critics only began voicing their concerns more loudly, which Wolfowitz blamed the media over for hyping the fact that his girlfriend was given a huge raise and transferred, even though he himself questioned that action and asked the ethics committee at the Bank to advise him.

Bush's nomination of Zoellick must now be approved by the World Bank's 24-member board.

Looking back at Zoellick's career, while he served in the No. 2 post in the Department of State U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice had nothing but praise for Zoellick's performance, once calling him her "alter ego". But after he left the Department of State, Zoellick joined an investment banking firm to develop international markets, which between the two positions may be just the ticket in convincing the World Bank's board that he is an ideal candidate and not Bush's 'mouth piece'.