Cosatu statements on Paul Wolfowitz 17-04-07

 

COSATU statement on Paul Wolfowitz

The Congress of South African Trade Unions demands the resignation of Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank. This is not just because of his abuse of his office to promote, and give a huge pay rise to, his girlfriend, but because of his consistently anti-working class and anti-poor policies.

His corrupt promotion of his partner typifies the morality of the capitalist system of which he is such an enthusiastic supporter. As COSATU wrote at the time of his appointment on 17 June 2005:

" We believe that Mr Wolfowitz embodies all the worst features of the international financial institutions - the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Like them, he has been dedicated to entrenching the power of big business and multinational corporations, at the expense of the workers and the poor. He will do nothing to make the World Bank more accountable or responsive to the needs of the world's poor countries."

COSATU endorses the International Trade Union Confederation's call for "proper transparency and democracy at the Bank and the International Monetary Fund".

" Both institutions," it says, "are facing a crisis of legitimacy, and must respond by increasing their accountability to member and client countries and the public at large... The international trade union movement believes that the value of the World Bank in the world economy should be to act as a leader in ensuring high labour, social and environmental standards, which are determined and implemented through transparent processes and through close consultations with governments, trade unions, other civil society organisations and the public."

" Both the Bank and the Fund have declared their commitment to tackling world poverty, says ITUC general secretary, Guy Ryder. "They need to live up to this commitment, and governments need to make sure that this happens".

In COSATU's view this will never happen under Wolfowitz's leadership. In 2005 the federation endorsed the view of Joseph Stiglitz, former chief economist of the World Bank, that Wolfowitz's appointment was "an act of provocation" that could "bring street protests and violence across the developing world."

" His record, as a right-wing 'hawk', architect of the US-led, illegal invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and his involvement in the 'reconstruction' of Iraq," said COSATU, "suggests that he is likely to move the World Bank in an even more pro-capital and anti-poor direction."

That prediction has come to pass. As we forecast, Wolfowitz continues to advocate more privatisation, tariff removal and trade liberalisation, all of which favour the big western business monopolies. He opposes moves to protect poor economies from unfair competition from the big powers or to safeguard the environment from further degradation by capitalist companies.

This conservative, neoliberal and corrupt individual must go!