The integrity certificates issued by the National Integrity Authority (NIA) do not represent an integrity filter, as they say, and do not certify to the holder’s integrity. The NIA should have not only ascertaining power, but should also control the integrity of the applicant for an integrity certificate. The subject was discussed in a roundtable meeting staged by the Association of Independent Press of and Moldova Curată, IPN reports.

Association of Independent Press executive director Petru Macovei said the integrity certificate should be issued as the e-criminal records. An integrity certificate is valid for three months and this is a very short period of time that should be modified. The issuing of integrity certificates in the current campaign did nothing but compromise the principle of integrity. The NIA discredited itself by issuing integrity certificates to persons who are not upright.

NIA vice president Lilian Chișca said the integrity certificate is an integrity filter, but this will be evident later. When the integrity certificate is issued, the NIA does not have powers to initiate control in relation to a person. It can only ascertain the situation based on information provided on the last one hundred meters. In the current election campaign, only six applicants from over 1,500 had mentions included in their integrity certificates. Also six applicants were registered by the CEC as candidates. NIA members prepare a set of proposals for improving the practice of issuing integrity certificated and avoiding handicaps.

Speaking about journalists’ requests for information, legal expert Viorel Pîrvan said the access to information is problematic not only at the NIA, but also at other state institutions because the law on the access to information is mixed up with the law on petitioning. The maximum period for providing an answer in the first case is 15 days, while in the second case is 30 days. Therefore, the journalists obtain already outdated and useless information after 30 days.

The certificate provides information about the existing legal/juridical restrictions on applying for or holding public posts and the existence or inexistence of definitive ascertaining documents concerning the regime of declaring property and personal interests, states of incompatibility and confiscation of unjustified property.