South African, Trevor Manuel, has been raised in media reports as one possible candidate, while everyone still wonders about the successor of Strauss-Kahn to head the institution.
By staff writer
Outgoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn announcement to leave office and his detention in a prison in New York for a sex scandal, build up speculation of his successor to head IMF .
Kahn informed yesterday the Board of Trustees of his intention to resign from his position as a CEO with immediate effect, according to a statement of the institution. South Africa’s finance minister Pravin Gordhan has called for the next head of the International Monetary Fund to come from a developing nation. He said that such a candidate would ensure the interests of both developed and developing nations are reflected in IMF policies.
South African, Trevor Manuel, has been raised in media reports as one possible candidate, while everyone still wonders about the successor of Strauss-Kahn to head the institution. Manuel currently heads SA’s National Planning Commission, a position he took up after being Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2009.
Born in 1956, Mr Manuel is the right age for the position. Rules state that the candidate has to be under 65. He is also recognized for having halved the level of indebtedness of the country and the introduction of a policy that helped overcome the financial crisis.
The Board of Directors of the IMF will have to decide shortly on the procedure for appointing a new CEO. Since their creation, an informal rule governs appointments to head the IMF, which wants a European to head the IMF and the U.S. national is to head the World Bank.
This tradition is challenged with the rise on the international economic scene of a large number of emerging countries. They criticize the way that Europeans and Americans share the head of these two international institutions.
Criticizing the status quo, the emerging countries, in fact, state that candidates should not be selected based on their nationality, but only through an open process based on skills and merit.
Mr. Laksaci Mohamed, Governor of the Bank of Algeria, speaking on behalf of developing countries that represents the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) of the IMF in Bretton Woods institutions during a biannual meetings, repeatedly called for the establishment of an open and transparent process in the selection of the Chief, and commitment to more decisive efforts in order to support diversity issues.
