Public figures ask World Bank to reject nomination of Weintraub
A letter sent to the World Bank claims that the former minister does have the necessary qualifications for the position
Headquarters of the World Bank in Washington D.C. Photo: reproduction
A letter signed by nearly 270 civil society organizations, businesspeople, political figures, economists, actors, actresses and cultural producers, in addition to movements associated with education, asks the World Bank to reject the nomination of Brazil’s former education minister, Abraham Weintraub, to the Executive Board of Directors at the institution.
The document was submitted to the Executive Board of Directors of the World Bank and to the embassies of eight countries that need to approve the nomination of the former minister to the position. They are: Colombia, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago, Philippines, Suriname, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Panama.
In the letter, the signatories claim that Weintraub does not possess the “minimum ethical, professional and moral qualifications to occupy the seat of the 15th Executive Board of Directors of the World Bank”.
The letter also draws the attention of the ambassadors to the fact that the appointment of the former minister to this position “could cause irreparable harm to the standing of your countries in the World Bank”. It also informs that Weintraub does not meet various requirements and principles of the World Bank’s Code of Conduct for Board Officials.
The document notes that the conduct of Abraham Weintraub represents the “antithesis of everything that the World Bank seeks to represent in development policy and in multilateralism”:
- Ideology over evidence-based policy
- Poor management skills
- Lack of understanding and capacity to address social and economic injustices through public policies
- Disrespect for the values of multilateralism, such as tolerance and mutual respect
- Conduct incompatible with ethical and professional integrity standards
The nomination of Weintraub by President Jair Bolsonaro for the position on the Executive Board of Directors at the financial institution was made yesterday, June 18, after his resignation from the Ministry of Education.
