THE International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board has initiated the process for the next Managing Director of the financial institution by June 30, following the arrest and subsequent release of Dominique Strauss-Kahn who was charged with a number of sexual offences, and his stepping down from the helm of the entity as a result.
In a press release issued by the IMF on Friday, Dean of the Board, Shakour Shalaan, said, “I am very pleased to announce that the Fund’s Executive Board has adopted a procedure that allows the selection of the next Managing Director to take place in an open, merit-based, and transparent manner. There was broad support in the Executive Board for this procedure.”
According to the release, the Executive Board approves the decision on the selection of the next Managing Director as outlined thus: The successful candidate for the position of Managing Director will have a distinguished record in economic policymaking at senior levels. He or she will have an outstanding professional background, will have demonstrated the managerial and diplomatic skills needed to lead a global institution, and will be a national of any of the Fund’s members.
The IMF said too that as chief of the Fund’s staff and as Chairman of the Executive Board, he or she will be capable of providing strategic vision for the work of a high quality, diverse, and dedicated staff; and will be firmly committed to advancing the goals of the Fund by building consensus on key policy and institutional issues, including through close collaboration with the Executive Board, under whose direction he or she will fulfil his or her responsibilities.
According to the IMF, he or she will have a proven understanding of the Fund and the policy challenges facing the Fund’s diverse global membership. Further, he or she will have a firm commitment to, and an appreciation of, multilateral cooperation, and will have a demonstrated capacity to be objective and impartial. The person will also be an effective communicator.
The press release said a Fund Governor or an Executive Director might nominate an individual for the position of Managing Director during a nomination period, which shall commence on May 23, 2011, and will close on June 10, 2011. “All nominations shall be communicated to the Fund’s Secretary, who shall obtain confirmation from each nominee of his or her willingness to be considered as a candidate. The Fund’s Secretary shall hold the names of the nominees in confidence until the end of the nomination period,” the press release said.
It said that at the end of the nomination period, the secretary shall disclose to the Executive Board the names of those nominees who have confirmed their desire to be candidates. “If the number of candidates exceeds three, the Executive Board will keep the names of these nominees in confidence until it has drawn up a shortlist of three candidates, taking into account the above candidate profile without geographical preferences,” the release said.
The short listing process, it said, will be implemented through indications of which candidates receive the most support among directors, taking into account the Fund’s weighted voting system, with the objective of completing the short listing process within seven days following the disclosure to the Board of the candidates. Although the Executive Board may adopt a shortlist by a majority of the votes cast, the objective of the Executive Board is to adopt a shortlist by consensus. The shortlist shall be published by the Fund.
The Executive Board will meet with the shortlisted candidates (or all of the candidates if there were fewer than four) in Washington, D.C. Thereafter, the Executive Board will meet to discuss the strengths of the candidates and make a selection. “Although the Executive Board may select a Managing Director by a majority of the votes cast, the objective of the Executive Board is to select the Managing Director by consensus with the objective of completing the selection process by June 30, 2011,” the IMF said.