SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Saturday that it would complete the process of selecting a new managing director by June 30. I am very pleased to announce that the Funds Executive Board has adopted a procedure that allows the selection of the next managing director to take place in an open, merit-based, and transparent manner. There was broad support in the Executive Board for this procedure, Shakour Shaalan, the dean of the IMFs Executive Board, said in a statement. The successful candidate for the position of managing director will have a distinguished record in economic policymaking at senior levels. He or she will have an outstanding professional background, will have demonstrated the managerial and diplomatic skills needed to lead a global institution, the statement said. John Lipsky, acting managing director of the IMF, said at event in Washington DC that there has been an agreement among the IMF membership that the process of selecting a new leader at the helm should be open and transparent. An individual may be nominated for the position of managing director by a fund governor or an executive director during a nomination period which shall commence on May 23, 2011 and will close on June 10, 2011, according to the statement. The Washington-based agency said its 24-member Executive Board will thereafter meet to discuss the strengths of the candidates and make a selection. Strauss-Kahn, IMFs ex-chief, was arrested in New York Saturday after being accused of sexually attacking a maid at the Sofitel New York hotel. He was released on bail from jail on Friday as he vowed to contest the allegations against him. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde emerged as the leading contender to replace Strauss-Kahn at the International Monetary Fund as developing nations failed to unite behind a candidate. Turkeys top economist Kermal Dervis, considered one of the leading contenders, took himself out of the running for the position on Friday. Speculation about succession at the IMF has included me in the group of persons with relevant experience, he said in a statement. But I have not been, and will not be, a candidate. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called for the quick appointment of a new managing director while the Obama administration avoided backing a candidate. European officials moved to maintain control over the institution that approved a record $US91.7 billion in emergency loans last year and provides a third of the euro-regions bailout packages. Italy and Sweden backed Ms Lagarde, and Handelsblatt newspaper reported the German government was preparing to support her. I would argue that Christine Lagarde has outstanding credentials, Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg said the other day. Her gender is an advantage since half of the world has not been represented as managing director of the IMF. Officials in emerging markets including Thailand, Russia and South Africa said the next IMF managing director should come from a developing nation even as they failed to unite behind a candidate the way Europe coalesced around Ms Lagarde. While Chinese officials havent publicly endorsed a candidate, Thailand and the Philippines backed Singapore Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam as a possible choice to succeed Strauss-Kahn.