World Bank's Kim seeks second term amid calls to end successive American presidencies

The World Bank last month began accepting nominations for its presidency in a move that is widely expected to favour incumbent president, Jim Yong Kim, who has indicated his intention to seek second term. His first term of five years expires on June 30, 2017.

According to a US Treasury statement, the 56-year-old South Korean-American, Kim, has secured the backing of the United States, the World Bank's largest shareholder, for a second term.

However, Kim has been a controversial figure among World Bank staff due to his aggressive restructuring of the bank's operations. Earlier last month, the bank's staff association sent a letter to the board, calling for, amongst other things, an end to successive American presidencies of the bank. “Our annual Employee Engagement Survey has, for two years running, made it painfully clear that the World Bank Group is experiencing a crisis of leadership,” the World Bank Group Staff Association said in the letter.

Under an unwritten agreement between pioneer Western members, the World Bank presidency goes to an American citizen while the position for Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, a sister institution, goes to a European citizen.

During the 2012 presidential selection process, some emerging market countries rallied behind Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's ex-finance minister and former World Bank Managing Director, in a futile effort to challenge Kim, the US candidate.