President of the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP) Dumitru Obadă says he expects SCP member Olesea Vîrlan, who said that “some mistakes slipped in” in the evaluation sheet of Ion Munteanu, candidate for the post of prosecutor general, to announce her resignation from the post.

Asked on a TV8 programme whether he would “recommend Vîrlan to resign”, Obadă replied “of course”, saying “or he will resign”.

“My call is for dignity and taking the decisions taken, and the message is also for my colleague. However, I believe in assumption, responsibility and maturity (…). I cannot allow myself to continue in the manner in which this whole procedure is being conducted today”, said the President of the SCP.

He explained that after the interviews, which took place on 22 February, the rest of the SCP members did not know whether the score given by Vîrlan was properly motivated.

“After 11 hours of work, we did not make this analysis, neither I nor any other member saw each of them what marks they gave. Each member communicated to the media,” Obadă recounted.

The SCP president was also asked if he had any suspicions when he found out the low score given by Vîrlan to Munteanu. Obadă said that “of course it aroused his suspicions”, but said that the sheets were sealed immediately after the scores were awarded, without being analysed.

“I didn’t see any plausible reasons justifying the application of this score, which aroused not just puzzlement, but for me – shock. I wanted very much to have a final and fair competition. With this risk, there was the choice: either you accept this mathematical reality and go ahead, which for me as a SCP member is unacceptable – you can’t appoint a person at any cost. The price is legality, transparency and equal treatment (…) I would not assume such a reality, the mathematics must have argumentative backing,” the prosecutor added.

The SCP published a press release on Thursday, 29 February, with the position of member Olesea Vîrlan, who gave a score of 3.5/10 to interim Prosecutor General Ion Munteanu, a candidate in the competition for the full position, which led to the cancellation of the competition.

Vîrlan claims that she “is not happy that certain mistakes crept into her evaluation”.

“In connection with what appeared in the press regarding the evaluation of candidates for the position of Prosecutor General I would like to make the following clarifications.

All possible mistakes are made in any calculation. Any evaluation has a dose of subjectivity. Any legal error can be corrected by legal means.

As a member of the High Council of the Prosecutor’s Office, I am guided by the law and impartiality. I am not happy that certain mistakes have crept into the evaluation carried out by me. This time the items of the evaluation showed a confused content.

I have no personal objections to Mr Ion Muntean’s candidacy, just as I have no personal objections to the other candidatures. If it were not for these errors, Mr Ion Muntean’s assessment would be 8.5. 

That is what I can tell you. That is why I also voted to revoke the decision and end the competition. I plead for constitutional loyalty in the work of the SCP”, said SCP member Olesea Vîrlan.