Democratic Party president Pavel Filip believes the new way of selecting the future Prosecutor General, which involves a pre-selection process before the Superior Council of Prosecutors can actually select a winner, violates the Moldovan Constitution. In his opinion, the current Government simply wants to appoint a Prosecutor General who can help them exact revenge on political opponents.

“It is a project that violates constitutional norms. The Constitution states very clearly that the Superior Council of Prosecutors is the guarantor of the prosecutors’ independence. The amendments they made to the law greatly undermines the role of the CSP, which can not guarantee anything. This selection committee will put forward 1-2 candidates, and the CSP plays only a mechanical role in presenting one of them to the President,” Filip told a current affairs talk show on TVR Moldova.

“I know that the Constitutional Court has requested the opinion of the Venice Commission and I am convinced that the Commission will say exactly the same thing that it said in its opinion on the justice reform. In fact, what has happened is an ideal politicization of the position of Prosecutor General, because in this alliance there are several political parties and this committee was created so that everyone can contribute to the appointment of the Prosecutor General. The committee is the embodiment of the ACUM bloc through the Ministry of Justice and of the PSRM through the presidential decree of confirmation,” said Pavel Filip.

The pre-selection of candidates for Prosecutor General is organized by a committee established by the Ministry of Justice. Today, October 29, is the last round of interviews with the contenders to this position.