Robert Zoellick’s honeymoon was interrupted yesterday, one day after his nomination as president of the World Bank, after a former chief economist of the group branded him a protectionist, spearheading what appeared to be the start of a backlash.

Mr Zoellick’s nomination by President Bush was greeted enthusiastically on Wednesday by the British, French and German governments. They pointed to his work as Mr Bush’s first trade representative and later as Deputy Secretary of State, roles that they said gave him just the right credentials to run a lender dedicated to reducing poverty in the developing world.

But in a sign of just how difficult it is to balance the interests of the many constituencies of the World Bank, Mr Zoellick’s nomination faces growing criticism that has been amplified by the distrust sparked by Paul Wolfowitz, the outgoing president.

Joseph Stiglitz, a former chief economist of the World Bank and a Nobel prizewinner, questioned Mr Zoellick’s ability to end US protectionism, a key area of concern in developing nations.

Professor Stiglitz told La Repubblica, the Italian newspaper: “Robert Zoellick defended American agricultural protectionism until the bitter end when he was responsible for commercial talks. How will he, as the future president of the World Bank, ask for the dismantling of aid to agriculture that favours developed countries at the expense of those that are poor?” The World Bank staff association, which represents the group’s 10,000 employees, also appeared to cast doubt on Mr Zoellick’s suitability for the role by failing to endorse him.

A spokesman for the association, which had urged the World Bank to consider both women and nonAmerican candidates, declined to comment on Mr Zoellick’s appointment. The 63-year-old institution has always been run by American men. The spokesman said that it would be inappropriate to comment until the appointment was made final and that nothing should be read into his silence.

Although President Bush’s nomination could be overruled, this would be unprecedented and is regarded as highly unlikely, given the widespread support for Mr Zoellick that has been voiced by key European members of the bank.

Concerns about Mr Zoellick centre on his membership of the so-called Vulcans foreign policy team that advised Mr Bush during his presidential campaign in 2000. The group was led by Condoleezza Rice and espoused the neocon ideology that alienated Mr Wolfowitz, another Vulcans member, from World Bank staff members. Mr Wolfowitz made himself unpopular with the staff by refusing loans to some regimes, in what many colleagues regarded as an inappropriately heavy-handed approach to rooting out corruption.

Paul Zeitz, the executive director of the Global Aids Alliance, said: “[Mr Zoellick] has been a close friend to the brand-name pharmaceutical industry, and the bilateral trade agreements he has negotiated effectively block access to generic medication for millions of people. As an early backer of US military action in Iraq, and as a former paid adviser to Enron, the infamous energy company, Zoellick brings significant baggage with him.”

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