Foreign or local prosecutor? On Monday, after the Government approved amendments to the Law on the Prosecutor General’s Office, whereby the right to take up the post of Prosecutor General of the Republic of Moldova was extended to persons with foreign citizenship, President Dodon backpedaled and declared that the Prosecutor’s Office should be led by a person with Moldovan citizenship. On June 11, the draft law, endorsed by the Venice Commission, was approved by Parliament in the first reading. The draft is to be examined in a second reading.

Natalia Molosag, lawyer

It is strange, there is an Agreement signed between PSRM and the ACUM Bloc and one of the points of the Agreement was that the Prosecutor General should be someone from abroad. Something has happened in the meantime: either the Socialists began to back track after securing what they wanted from the ACUM Bloc, or they have some concerns given that, as we know,  there are people among the Socialists who could fall under criminal investigations – including the case of the stolen billion – and a foreign prosecutor could be very harsh with them. On the other hand, they may have received some indication from the Kremlin to avoid disclosing some irregularities involving Russia. The truth is somewhere in the middle. But I think given that Maia Sandu was entrusted with the government and she intends to “clean up” Moldova, she should be allowed to do what she promised and what they agreed. That said, I do not exclude that we could find a good prosecutor from here, from among us. How do you know we do not have a Codruta Kovesi (ed. – Romania’s former Prosecutor General)? But it will be more complicated, because our system is rotten and everyone sticks together in it. 

Vlad Gribincea, Center for Legal Resources 

Why? Because Igor Dodon and Maia Sandu are different, they have different opinions, they see things completely different. In the end, decisions are made not in the Government, but in Parliament. What more to tell you? Both opinions are correct. This is not a question of legality and illegality. It’s a matter of vision… In the end, “the person sanctifies the place.”  It matters who the prosecutor will be, and not what nationality he has.

Alexei Busuioc, Mayor of Capaclia, Cantemir

I believe that there are very good prosecutors in Moldova too. The problem does not lie in how professional they are, but in their integrity and resistance to the temptations of the job. We had good guys everywhere, but not all of them resisted, and today we have what we have: corruption at the highest levels in the state, both vertically and horizontally. I understand Maia Sandu and her reasons for asking for a European prosecutor. In her first press statement as prime minister, what did she say? That the regime has fallen and we we should start cleaning up. Well, this clean-up, without a clean and courageous Prosecutor General, is virtually impossible. That’s why he wants this prosecutor to be an outsider, not to be dependent on anything or anyone. Why doesn’t Dodon want the same? It may be that with the appearance of a foreign Prosecutor General, a new age will begin in the Republic of Moldova, with arrests and serious dossiers on former and current dignitaries and bosses… Dodon and the Socialists are also stained. If anything turns up against them, it will be easier to negotiate with your own kind than with foreigners. 

Fiodor Ghelici, Moldova Mea Association

Dodon is part of the criminal system created in Moldova after 2009. We know that this new PSRM-ACUM alliance is a forced one, because of lack of better alternative. That is why we should not be surprised that Dodon is not, and will not be on other issues, on the same page with Sandu and Năstase. We remember how Dodon became president. We know that this was done with the support of PDM. Between Maia Sandu and Igor Dodon, Plahotniuc chose Dodon because he is compromised,  working hand in hand with those who have stolen and criminalized this state. This is why Dodon does not want and will not want a prosecutor from abroad – independent, politically uncontrolled – who will be guided in his activity by law and only by law. I do not agree with Dodon that we have good professionals in Moldova too. Actually, no, we have them. But they are only good for their own interests and the interests of those who control them. If the Socialists do not vote for the bill in the second reading, it means that they are afraid. Not voting for this bill will be the first break in the PSRM-ACUM coalition.