The public contest for selecting the next Prosecutor General has failed to produce any results. The Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP) was supposed to approve the results of the contest today, but after examining a number of petitions from the candidates and following long deliberations, it decided to cancel it altogether.

The CSP revoked its own decision from February 22 regarding the results of the interview phase, where the highest score was awarded to Octavian Iachimovschi, Deputy Chief Anticorruption Prosecutor. This was attributed to “later developments” and with the purpose of “putting the public interest first”.

After looking at the evaluation sheets of the interview phase, the CSP found “major inconsistencies” in how some candidates were evaluated, “or rather under-evaluated”. According to the CSP, this undermines transparency, meritocracy, and impartiality, the very principles that lay at the foundation of the selection process for such an important office. In these circumstances, the institution concluded, the competition cannot proceed to the next phase.

The position of Prosecutor General fell vacant after Alexandr Stoianoglo was first suspended, in October 2021, and eventually fired, in September 2023, after his performance in office was deemed “unsatisfactory”. Stoianoglo denounced his dismissal as “politically motivated”.