The board of the World Bank met today to discuss an escalating controversy over the promotion of President Paul Wolfowitz's girlfriend.
The bank's board is investigating whether Wolfowitz broke any rules in helping to direct the promotion for his companion, bank employee Shaha Riza, before she was given an outside assignment because of their relationship.
However, sources had said yesterday today's meeting of the 24-nation board was not expected to reach any decision, as it still had to determine how to proceed given the unprecedented nature of the situation.
Senior Democratic congressmen and other critics have pressed demands for his resignation, saying his actions have undermined the campaign against corruption in the developing world that has been a hallmark of his World Bank tenure.
The need for a speedy resolution to the scandal intensified yesterday when one of two deputies to Wolfowitz, a former No. 2 official at the Pentagon and key architect of the Iraq war, told him at a meeting of senior bank staff that he should resign.
The call by Graeme Wheeler showed the degree to which the matter has led to a near-paralysis at the poverty-fighting global lender.
Wolfowitz has made clear he has no intention of stepping down. Last week, he apologised for how he handled Riza's promotion, saying he was new at the bank and in 'uncharted waters.'
