世界銀行17日發(fā)布董事局和行長的聲明，宣布沃爾福威茨將辭去行長職務。此前，他因為安排女友的工作，遭到了各方的批評。
Paul
Wolfowitz, the former number two man in the U.S. Defense Department, announced
late Thursday that he is resigning as World Bank president. VOA's Barry Wood
reports Wolfowitz has been at the center of a six-week long controversy over his
personal dealings at the anti-poverty agency.
The resignation followed a day-long meeting of the bank's 24-member executive
board. In a statement, Wolfowitz said his resignation was in the best interests
of the 185 member-nation bank and would take effect June 30th.
A statement from the board said it accepted that Wolfowitz thought he had
acted ethically in arranging a promotion and pay increase for his female
companion, a bank employee. That two-year old controversy evolved into charges
of ethics violations and prompted some European governments to demand his
ouster.
Wolfowitz has had a stormy relationship with the bank's professional staff
ever since he became president two years ago. While at the U.S. defense
department he was a principal architect of the Iraq war that is deeply unpopular
among many bank staff, less than 30 percent of whom are American.
President Bush, after weeks of insisting that Wolfowitz should retain his
job, Thursday acknowledged that his former associate had lost the battle.
"All I can tell you is I know that Paul Wolfowitz has an interest in what's
best for the Bank, and just like he's had an interest in what's best for making
sure the Bank focused on things that matter: human suffering, the human
condition. I -- and so I applaud his vision, I respect him a lot, and as I said,
I regret this has come to this right now," he said.
By tradition, the United States nominates the president of the World Bank,
which like its neighbor the International Monetary Fund-which is run by a
European, was set up in the aftermath of World War Two. The bank has had only
ten presidents and Wolfowitz is the first to be forced to resign.
Wolfowitz's hold on the top job became untenable
earlier this week as the bank's board moved towards a vote to
remove him. That vote never occurred as Wolfowitz resigned after obtaining a
statement that he acted in good faith concerning his companion, British national
Shaha Riza. In an unprecedented action, Germany's development minister said
Wednesday that Wolfowitz would be unwelcome at a Berlin meeting he was scheduled
to attend next week.
There is as yet no indication as to who will replace Wolfowitz as head of the
world's biggest development institution.
untenable :being
such that defense or maintenance is impossible（站不住腳的；支持不住的）
點擊進入更多VOA常速
（來源：VOA 英語點津姍姍編輯）
