Civil society urge transparency in appointing Integrity Commission members

Eight nongovernmental organizations are urging the Parliament's Legal Commission to ensure transparency in appointing members to the Integrity Commission, in particular by holding public interviews and presenting the candidates' CVs, Info-Prim Neo reports. The NGOs noted in a statement that, while the legislation requires an open procedure, the Legal Commission limited itself to presenting a number of candidates that were approved earlier. Creating the National Integrity Commission is a key step towards curbing corruption and its members must be selected in a transparent manner, the statement says. The requested public interviews should elucidate the candidates' visions on the functions of the Commission, their professional experience, and other issues of public interest. The signatory NGOs are the Legal Resource Center, the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT, the Investigative Journalism Center, the East Europe Foundation, the Public Policy Institute, the NGO Acces-Info, the Promo-LEX Association and the Independent Press Association. The following candidates have been proposed for the Integrity Commission: Ion Prisacaru (Liberal-Democratic Party), Leonid Morari (Democratic Party), Anatol Chiriac (Liberal Party), and Dumitru Prijmireanu (Communist Party). The candidates proposed by civil society – Cristina Cojocaru (the Center for Corruption Prevention and Analysis) and Efim Obreja (Transparency International Moldova) – are yet to be approved by the Commission. Earlier the head of the Legal Commission, MP Victor Popa, said the legislation said nothing about holding public interviews or presenting candidates' resumes.