Following the statements made by President Maia Sandu after the August 10 meeting of the Supreme Security Council, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) reacted with a short text that leaves yet room for different interpretations.
In connection with this, IPN asked for the opinion of Igor Boțan, executive director of the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT). He noted the position stated by PGO is the expression of a conflict between the political power and the judicial power. It goes to a bizarre conflict. The current government accuses the Prosecutor General’s Office of inefficiency, while the latter accuses the first of incompetence in terms of law. In general, neither the current government nor the PGO are right in this conflict.
The government has in hand massive popular support and all the tools needed to bring things in Moldovan justice in order. But it is impatient and resorts to chivalry attacks, including on PGO. On the other hand, PGO reacted surprisingly inappropriately. It decided to take the bull by the horns, giving the current government an “unsatisfactory grade’ for the comprehension of the rule of law principles. Moreover, the position of PGO contains threatening notes against the current government: “The PGO’s response to any attack on its institutional and procedural independence will be proportional to the gravity of such attacks”.
Undoubtedly, the PGO should have the whole range of instruments that ensures its independence. But the independent state institutions should be efficient! This was specified by the Constitutional Court (CC), which noted that “the importance of the rule of law as a trans-dimensional matter resides in the ensuring of the respect for the human rights and democracy, security and stability, good governance, mutual economic and commercial relations, security of investigations and a favorable business climate and in its role in fighting corruption [...], which this way serve as a basis for political, economic, social development...”. That’s why, before giving grades to the current government as regards understanding of the rule of law concept, PGO should have presented its successes in the areas mentioned by CC.
The scandal involving the current government and the PGO should be resolved swiftly. The government should work out clear policies for correctly assessing the efficiency of the autonomous public institutions and, only after the appropriate application of these assessments, it should propose measures for remedying the situation. This way, the current government should remember that those who are patient can obtain what they intend to, while those who are impatient will get nothing.
IPN asked the press services of the Presidential Administration and Parliament to formulate the institutions’ attitude to the created situation, but hasn’t yet received a response.
