Ever since the founding of the World bank, the US has appointed its president. In a ground-breaking move yesterday it relinquished that power, albeit reluctantly.
WASHINGTON - The United States has surrendered its power to elect the World Bank president in a deal that would allow candidates from any country to fill the post.
Douglas Alexander, the UK's development secretary, spearheaded the agreement. Backed by governments from Europe and developing countries, he sucessfully overcame resistance from the US and Japan.
Describing the move as "a significant step forward", Alexander said that the reform "will ensure that the best-qualified candidate is selected."
Since the founding of the World Bank after World War II, the US has had the right to pick the institution's president.
In recent years however, developing countries have grown increasingly upset over the Western dominance of both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Reflecting this trend, the World Bank's development committee was dominated by concerns that poorer developing nations would succumb to the recent economic meltdown.
U.S. Loses Power to Choose World Bank President
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