Path clear for Zoellick to become World Bank chief

By Lesley Wroughton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Robert Zoellick, U.S. President George W. Bush's candidate to head the World Bank, was poised to clinch the job as expected as a deadline for nominations passed on Friday without a challenger emerging.

"No additional nominations have been reported," a bank official said.

The lack of other nominees continues the traditional, long-standing practice in which the United States picks the head of the bank as part of a political trade-off with Europe, which chooses the leader of the International Monetary Fund.

After the forced resignation of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz last month over a high-paying promotion for his companion, most of the bank's 185 member countries indicated they wanted a more open process for selecting the bank chief.

However, World Bank board officials told Reuters Zoellick's credentials as former U.S. trade representative and deputy secretary of state were solid enough to garner support from developed and developing countries.

"The reality is that no one wants to do it against the United States at this stage," said one board official.

"Zoellick's resume is quite impressive and everybody sees that and it's been a smart move by the U.S. administration to come up with somebody like him," the official added.

The appointment is now only a matter of formality. A bank official said the board was expected to meet with Zoellick next week, with an eye toward finalizing the process by June 29 and having the new president in place on July 1.

Over the past two weeks, Zoellick has made a concerted effort to speak with the bank's borrowing nations and funders in visits to Africa and Europe. He is now heading to Latin America.

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The desire by most countries to change how the bank chief is picked found no traction even after calls for a more transparent process by South Africa, Brazil and Australia.

Board officials told Reuters that the battle to force Wolfowitz out had caught countries by surprise and left little time to properly debate changes to the selection criteria.

"If we are really at a turning point and we won't again see a presidency determined in this way, the challenge will be to keep the issue in people's consciousness and approach some presentable open but well-governed process in good time before the end of this current presidency," one board official said.

The bank president's term is normally five years.

The World Bank's internal watchdog, the Independent Evaluation Group, warned in a recent letter to the board that the crisis over Wolfowitz had damaged the institution's image and credibility and revealed flaws in its governance.