WASHINGTON — A day after World Bank directors accused Paul D. Wolfowitz of breaking ethics rules in negotiating a promotion and salary raise for his companion, the bank president pleaded with them Tuesday to give him another chance at leading the anti-poverty lender.
Defending himself at an evening board meeting, Wolfowitz urged directors to separate the specific mistakes he may have made in handling his companion's reassignment and larger questions about his rocky two-year tenure at the bank.
"If you want to have a discussion about my leadership, my management style and the policies I support, let's do it," Wolfowitz said, according to a prepared text of his remarks released by his lawyers. "That's fair. That's legitimate. But let's get past this conflict-of-interest matter that was resolved over a year ago."
Wolfowitz has resisted calls to resign over the scandal, in which he is accused of improperly negotiating a significant raise and promotion for his companion, Shaha Ali Riza, who was a senior bank employee when President Bush nominated Wolfowitz for the top job.
Critics have seen the controversy over Riza as emblematic of larger management failures by Wolfowitz, a former No. 2 official at the Pentagon who is seen as a chief architect of the Iraq war. Bush's decision to name him to the World Bank was considered by many career staff members to be an effort to impose the administration's foreign policy priorities on the bank. The bank is an international institution chartered by member nations who appoint its board of governors and executive directors.
On Monday, an ad hoc committee of board members reviewing the Riza controversy released a report saying Wolfowitz had exhibited "questionable judgment and a preoccupation with self-interest over institutional best interest." They also questioned whether Wolfowitz would be able to provide the leadership the bank needed.
In his statement, Wolfowitz contended that the two issues should not be conflated.
"I sincerely believe that if you read my submissions, you will conclude that I acted in what I believed were the best interests of the institution, and that my conduct with respect to Ms. Riza's external placement does not justify taking any action against me or warrant a finding that you lack confidence in my leadership," Wolfowitz said.
