Clash of Cultures at World Bank Meetings Continues

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Tang Li, Arab News

SINGAPORE, 15 September 2006 — It is perhaps one of the most ironic moments in the past two-years, Paul Wolfowitz, World Bank president and one of the key architects of the current Bush administration’s successful policies in the Middle East, chose to take on the mantle of “Champion of the Oppressed,” at the IMF-World Bank meetings being held in Singapore.

Wolfowitz told the Singapore media that the decision of the Singapore government not to allow certain individuals to participate in the meetings “is a breach of the Memorandum of Understanding signed some three years ago.”

On Thursday, Wolfowitz and IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato made a surprise appearance at an introductory briefing for civil society organizations. Both men reinforced the need for such civil groups to be part of the IMF/World Bank meetings. They argued that it was civil society organizations which communicate how beneficiaries of the IMF and World Bank’s assistance perceive that help.

Wolfowitz said of Singapore’s decision to ban outdoor protest and the decision to bar 28 members of civil society organizations from entering Singapore of grounds of national security: “I certainly hope their opinions are not the reason they’re being excluded and if their opinions are critical of our institutions, it’s all the more critical for us to hear them ... If this is censorship based on alleged views of people, then it’s an even more serious problem.”

Both men said they hoped the accreditation issue could be solved in a satisfactory way to allow as many civil groups as possible to participate and de Rato proposed that those who are not able to enter Suntec Singapore — the venue of the meetings — could find an alternative way to take part: a web connection to the Town Hall meeting today.

De Rato said: “We will make all our efforts so that they can participate in the dialogue and make their opinions known tomorrow afternoon.”

However, while Singapore government stood its ground on its decision to ban outdoor protest, protesters wasted no time in taking advantage of the space they were allocated for indoor protest.

The first protest in the designated are was lead by Sandy Krawitz from the Action Aid International and other civil society groups declared that they were set to stage their protests today, a day ahead of their original plans.

Sandy Krawitz said her group would also stage a silent protest today and would likely focus on Singapore’s tough restrictions on demonstrations by civil groups. As part of their protest, they would wear T-shirts and gags that would say, “No Voice.”

In response to Wolfowitz’s remarks, the Organizing Committee of Singapore 2006 told the media that it took the role of host nation seriously and had not gone back on its word.

The Memorandum of Understanding that Wolfowitz mentioned had called upon the host nation to take full responsibility for the safety of all the delegates and the committee had highlighted the 27 out of 500 delegates that it had banned on law and order concerns.

In spite of Wolfowitz’s efforts to pressure the Singapore government, the Singaporean population are by and large supportive of the government’s position on the ban.

In a letter to the forum of Singapore’s national newspaper, The Straits Time, one reader remarked, “Singapore owes no apology to anyone for blocking known troublemakers or for our obsession with security.”

Another writer argued that, “For Singapore as a brand, its ‘strict, no-nonsense reputation’ could actually be positive,” and “if in articles about the IMF/World Bank meetings the brand Singapore comes across as a place that is safe and where work and play are not endangered by violent demonstrations (but where activists are instead given a designated air-conditioned space), then this would be an attractive part of the brand positioning that we need to attract the target groups we want.”