"There was no high drama or excitement attached to the selection of Christine Lagarde as the successor to Dominique Strauss Kahn who had to demit office after an infamous scandal. Her selection was a conclusion foregone but had been held back farcially. The Executive Board of the International Fund (IMF) met on Tuesday (28th June 2011) and opted for her. As Financial Times reported, “As is traditional, she was appointed by consensus by the fund’s 24-member board.”[i] Rituals die-hard.
Poor Carstens, the Mexican Governor, had to bow out. Indeed, as demanded by protocol, there was high praise for him from the IMF Board and Tim Geithner, US Treasury Secretary, for his qualifications and experience. As an experienced politician, he would have known well before he started the campaign that he stood no chance of winning. He could not even muster the votes of all the Latin American countries and some like Brazil and Argentina were openly against him. The puzzle was why he was in the battle until the last hour? Why did he travel all the way to India and China to canvass his candidature? True to style, he had made very valid and critical comments against the infirmities of IMF functioning and also his rival. These were not heard or, if heard, ignored. Was he a dummy candidate as in local elections in India to lend respectability to the selection process? As a former IMF hand and a buddy of the U.S. Treasury did he help maintain the charade that the selection process for the post was open and transparent? From all reports, it was clear that his candidature was a long shot".............READ MORE
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