WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Saturday announced that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago had nominated a Trinidadian national for IDB president.
The Washington-based financial institution said Gerard Johnson, IDB’s General Manager of the Caribbean Country Department, is among five candidates proposed by member countries for the top position. The nomination period closed on Friday.
The IDB said Cecilia Todesca Bocco was nominated by Argentina; Gerardo Esquivel Hernández was nominated by Mexico; Ilan Goldfajn was nominated by Brazil, and Nicolás Eyzaguirre Guzmán was nominated by Chile.
The IDB said its governors, who usually finance ministers or other high-ranking economic authorities from the bank’s 48 member countries, will have the opportunity to interview the candidates at a virtual meeting on Sunday.
The election is set to take place at a hybrid meeting of the IDB’s Board of Governors on November 20, 2022.
The president of the IDB is elected by the Board of Governors to a five-year term, according to a set of regulations in compliance with the agreement establishing the bank.
In order to be elected president, a candidate must receive favorable votes from IDB member countries representing a majority of total voting power, including an absolute majority of the governors of the regional members (the 26 borrowing member countries plus Canada and the United States), the IDB said.
Additionally, it said an absolute majority of the total number of governors, including an absolute majority of the regional members, all carrying three-fourths of the members’ voting power, must participate in the election.
On September 28, the IDB said the Office of the Secretary notified the bank’s governors that the process to nominate candidates to be the organization’s next president was opened.
Two days earlier, the IDB said that its Board of Governors, following the unanimous recommendation by the Board of Executive Directors, “resolved that Mr. Mauricio Claver-Carone will cease to hold the office of President of the Bank, effective on September 26, 2022.”
In accordance with the bank’s charter, the Executive Vice President, Reina Irene Mejía Chacón, will act as president under the direction of the Board of Executive Directors until a new president is elected.
“The IDB Group and its teams continue to operate normally to comply with the IDB’s mission of improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said the IDB in a statement.
Mejia said the IDB has “a track record of bringing progress and development to the region over more than six decades.
“The IDB’s work is built on solid institutional foundations, ethical values, and operational excellence,” she said. “Our institution is stronger and more committed to continuing to make a positive difference in our people’s lives.”
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