Independent mayoral candidate and unaffiliated deputy Mihai Godea comes with solutions to efficiently punish corrupt officials. He held a press briefing on Friday, May 20, and announced he would submit a draft amendment of article 16 of the Penal Code to the Permanent Bureau of the Parliament. Godea assures he will insist for the project to be approved, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Corruption is one of the worst scourges of modern society and the situation in Moldova proves its impact on all the spheres of life. Should my proposals be accepted, there will be no more freedom from criminal liability related to changed situation and no more freedom conditioned by criminal liability. Participating in a corruption act for the first time won’t be a mitigating circumstance and criminal history won’t disappear as easy”, explained Godea. The deputy added that after the amendment, punishments will remain the same, but will be more efficient, having both a penalty and preventive role, thwarting corruption. Mihai Godea, who runs for mayor of Chisinau, held his briefing outside the Anticorruption Center, were he presented seven steps against this phenomenon. He promised personal responsibility for every issued authorization. The mayor won’t commission deputy mayors or other officials to sign authorizations, licenses and other documents offering rights and privileges Should he become mayor, Godea will contract independent institutions from Moldova and from abroad to provide anticorruption analysis based on existing methodology. The urgent and uncoordinated approval of decisions, without any consultations, will be excluded. Another measure is an order for the income and property declarations of all City Hall employees to be published on City Hall’s webpage. Mihai Godea also wants a 24-hour functional anticorruption hotline. His fifth step requires that every employment contract signed by the mayor included requirements to respect ethical principles, to prevent and fight corruption. The mayoral candidate deems the development of E-City Hall a priority. The project of implementing digital and informational technologies in the City Hall activities is his sixth anticorruption electoral promise. The seventh refers to a special anticorruption fund, financed from the public budget or donations, which will offer rewards to persons that denounce corruption cases within the City Hall.