Strauss-Kahn gets IMF nomination
By George Parker in Brussels and Pan Kwan Yuk in Paris
Dominique Strauss-Kahn was on Tuesday anointed Europe’s candidate to head the International Monetary Fund, in a highly effective operation by Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, to plant another tricolour flag on a global institution.
Only Britain put up any resistance to Europe throwing its weight behind the French socialist, but found itself outmanoeuvred at a breakfast of finance ministers in Brussels on Tuesday.
Alistair Darling, Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, attempted to put the brakes on Mr Strauss-Kahn’s nomination, arguing for an “open and transparent system” for choosing a replacement for Rodrigo Rato, the fund’s outgoing managing director.
But while Mr Darling was briefing journalists that he wanted to see if any other candidates emerged, the Portuguese presidency of the EU issued a press release naming the former French finance minister as Europe’s candidate.
The British minister complained that “a discussion over breakfast” was not the way to choose the IMF chief (by tradition Europe provides the fund’s managing director) especially when the breakfast was not that good.
Later the British Treasury issued a statement confirming the fracture in Europe’s ranks. “We don’t feel bound by that discussion,” it said. It argues that the debate now moves to the more important IMF level, pointing out that the fund’s executive board also backs a transparent appointment process.
Mr Darling said the “world has moved on” from the post second world war days when the US provided the head of the World Bank and Europe got the top job at the IMF. He will see if any other countries put up candidates before deciding whom to support. He said Britain wanted to reform the appointment process for the Bretton Woods institutions to remove the monopoly of rich countries in top jobs, a view endorsed as a longer-term priority by the Portuguese EU presidency.
The addition of Mr Strauss-Kahn to the IMF would mean Frenchmen in charge of four big international institutions – a fact which will boost Mr Sarkozy’s attempts to reinstate French “grandeur” on the world stage.
France already has Jean-Claude Trichet as president of the European Central Bank, Pascal Lamy as chief of the World Trade Organisation, and Jean Lemierre at the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Domestically, a move by Mr Strauss-Kahn to the IMF would help Mr Sarkozy marginalise a dangerous opponent. Mr Strauss-Kahn had been preparing to contest the leadership of the Socialist party next year, where he would be placed to challenge for the presidency in 2012.
On Tuesday he said he would now seek to win wider support in the IMF.
The US stayed out of the European jostling. Officials indicated that the choice of whom to nominate was an internal matter for the Europeans.
Additional reporting by Krishna Guha
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