Future MPs to be checked of 'incorruptibility' for first time in Moldova

For the first time in Moldova, a team of NGOs want to scrutinize the party lists of future MPs in the wake of the 2009 elections, encouraging voters to elect non-compromised politicians. A so-called “Civic Initiative for a Clean Parliament” was launched Tuesday, November 25, Info-Prim Neo reports. The executive manager of the Independent Press Association (IPA), Petru Macovei, has said the monitoring will be carried out by a team of journalists, on the basis of some 'criteria of integrity' developed by the Civic Initiative and coordinated with the political parties. 'The integrity criteria' will be used as a measurement tool to track the trustworthiness and incorruptibility of the future MPs. The dossiers will be submitted by journalists to be checked by lawyers and referees (politically non-affiliated personalities experienced in journalism). Then the dossiers will be considered by the members of the Civic Initiative for a Clean Parliament, and, in the end, they will compile a list of candidates unworthy to hold a seat in the parliament, Petru Macovei explained. If the parties do not accept to oust the compromised candidates from their lists, then the information about them will not be publicized. In case the party does not question the results of the monitoring and does not expel the candidates from its list, the Civic Initiative will publicize the list of compromised MPs. They will check the lists of the parties shown in polls as having chances to accede to the parliament. The Central Electoral Commission secretary, Iurie Ciocan, is pleased with the initiative, calling it beneficial for entire society. The members of the Civic Initiative for a Clean Parliament are the Association for Participative Democracy, the Independent Press Association, the Corruption Analysis and Prevention Center, the Independent Journalism Center, the Journalistic Investigation Center, the Acces-info Center and the Soros Foundation-Moldova.