One Party’s interest should not prevail over public interest, CreDO

Sergiu Ostaf, head of the Human Rights Resource Center (CReDO), regrets that the interest of one party prevails over the public interest. The statement was made after the Parliament had failed to appoint a chair for the CNI in the last meeting of the spring-summer session. “In my opinion, we are observing a situation when the PL associates the naming of the CNI chair with certain favors, or wants to appoint a professional lawyer to the position, one who would be loyal to the PL. It is regrettable, because PL’s interests prevail over the public interest, and proves that the PL has influence over the CNI”, said Sergiu Ostaf, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. At the last meeting of the spring-summer session, the leader of the Party of Liberal Democrats’ fraction Valeriu Strelet said that the CNI chair should be appointed as soon as possible, if corruption is to be combated and order is to be done among officials’ income and asset statements. Nevertheless, the leader of the Liberal fraction Ion Hadirca said that they should not hurry. After a 15-minute break, Parliament Speaker Marian Lupu announced that the Alliance did reach consensus and the issue was being postponed till autumn. “The PL’s position will have a negative impact on the liberalization of visa regime negotiations, because the activity of the CNI, a critical element in combating and preventing corruption, is being postponed for 3-4 months”, claims Sergiu Ostaf. The MPs have appointed the members of the National Integrity Commission since June 22, but the latter cannot start their activity without a leader. Previously, around 50 NGOs signed a petition asking political leaders to hurry the election of the CNI board, so that it may start its activity. Representatives of these organizations claim that Cristina Cojocaru, representative of the civil society, is best suited for this position. The other members of the commission are: Vera Lupu proposed by PLDM, Ion Casian, from the PL, Leonid Morari, from the PDM, Dumitru Prijmireanu – representative of the PCRM. The CNI members are equal in rights. The commission task is to inspect the wealth and conflicts of interests of Government employees, judges, prosecutors, public employees and some people in decision-making positions.