WASHINGTON, April 14: World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz may resign within the next 24 hours, the Bank Information Centre said on Saturday. The centre, which monitors the World Bank and other international monetary organisations, called the expected resignation “a small victory” and “only one step towards remedying the fundamental governance flaws within the institution.”

The Washington-based World Bank watchdog also criticised the selection process for the bank’s president saying that the process was undemocratic and the person selected “is not representative of all the member countries.”

By tradition the World Bank Group president is a US citizen, and the IMF managing director a European. Although the bank’s president is officially approved by the board of directors, in practice the candidate named by the United States is always approved.

Mr Wolfowitz was deputy defence secretary in the Bush cabinet before joining the bank and is considered the architect of the administration’s Iraq policy.

President Bush sent him to the bank in 2005 after he became a political liability for leading the US into a war it is unlikely to win.

His role in the Iraq war and the practice of appointing cronies from the Republican Party to senior positions caused Mr Wolfowitz to face an unprecedented rebellion within his own office last year.

Reports in the US media said that the bank’s directors were upset with Mr Wolfowitz for appointing people with political connections, but little experience in their relevant fields.