Kemal Derviş’s Candidacy for IMF Chief not Supported by Turkey

Turkish government officials have displayed reluctance to support Kemal Derviş, a former Turkish economy minister who now is the vice president of the Brookings Institution, as a candidate to head the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. Derviş’s chances to be appointed in the seat of Dominique Strauss-Kahn were further eroded Friday, as an influential U.S. newspaper voiced allegations about an affair he had in the past.

“If we look around in Turkey, we can find at least 10 names who can easily lead the IMF,” Economy Minister Ali Babacan was quoted as saying on Friday. “Whether it is Derviş or our other friends whose names are mentioned, all have the knowledge, skills and abilities to lead the IMF,” Agence France-Presse quoted Babacan as saying, adding that the government has not made a decision yet whether to promote a Turkish candidate or not.

Speaking from Madrid, where he received a legion of merit from the Spanish Foreign Ministry, Derviş said it would not be right for him to comment on the issue.

On Thursday, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek also refused to openly support Derviş, 62. “Have you ever asked Mr. Derviş whether he has such a wish? As far as I know he quit the United Nations Development Programme a year ago,” Şimşek said, speaking to reporters in the southeastern province of Batman.

Top name for the job

“Derviş’s name is among the favorites of developing countries who increasingly feel they should have a greater say at the top of the IMF, which has been led by European’s since it was set up at the end of World War II,” AFP reported. However, his chances in the face of the powerful Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, seem to be fading.

Lagarde is “practically a shoo-in” as the EU’s candidate to succeed Strauss-Kahn, with an EU announcement expected at next week’s G-8 summit, a source told the AFP.

“Lagarde is practically a shoo-in, we should get such a signal at Deauville,” in France, said the unnamed source, referring to the summit on Thursday and Friday of the world’s eight top industrialized powers. “The EU does not have another candidate,” the source added.

In 2002, Dervis was elected to the Turkish parliament from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, the rival of the ruling and Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, or AKP, of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In another development, the New York Times claimed in a Friday article that a previous affair of Derviş might harm his position as a lead contender.

Praising his success to bring Turkey’s economy out of the 2001 crisis, the Times claimed that Derviş has “a secret” that could disqualify him from being considered for the job.

“Years ago, while a senior executive at the World Bank, he had an affair with a female subordinate who now works at the IMF, according to a person with direct knowledge of the affair,” the Times said. Derviş declined to comment on details of his personal life, the newspaper said.

May 20, 2011
SOURCE: HURRIYET DAILY NEWS