Civil society and some of the extraparliamentary forces are dissatisfied with the way in which the justice sector reform started by the PAS government is implemented. According to anticorruption expert Cristina Țărnă, the government allowed a very small number of people to manage the justice sector reform, ignoring the public consultations and the attraction of professionals to the system. On the other hand, representatives of the government said the veritable justice sector reform will start together with the clearing of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) and the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP) of corrupt people by implementing pre-vetting, IPN reports.

Representatives of civil society said the reforms initiated by the PAS in the justice sector are nontransparent, do not involve professionals in the field and are coordinated by a small number of people whose knowledge cannot cover all the areas of justice.

“When two-three people do the reforms, they cannot do all the reforms concomitantly. Professionals from different areas should have been attracted and platforms for public consultations with experts in the field should have been created. As long as PAS does not do this and concentrates the reforms in the hands of two-three people, we will be waiting long for reforms. We should be at least sure that these two-three persons know what they do. I don’t doubt that their intentions are good, but I have serious doubts about competence in all the areas,” anticorruption expert Cristina Țărnă stated in the talk show “Black Box” on TV8 channel.

The leader of the Party of Change Ștefan Gligor also said that he is dissatisfied with the justice sector reform, noting the scandalous appointments of the recent past only damage the PAS’ image before the voters. The team that Iulian Rusu will build at the NAC will be the litmus test that will show their real intentions.

“It is regrettable that the PAS don’t realize that the justice problem in the Republic of Moldova cannot be solved with half measures. The National Anticorruption Center and NAC is that swamp that absorbs you. Instead of working out a clear strategy, you started to work with these institutions. You modified the composition of the SCP that made a number of regrettable appointments. The appointed persons have ties, relations of nepotism. The naming of deputies at the NAC by Iulian Rusu will show what kind of appointment was this. A process of destabilizing our country started and this is fueled by the mistakes made by the government,” stated Ștefan Gligor.

In reply, PAS MP Vasile Grădinaru said that when it goes to the justice sector reform, the government should combine the element of swiftness with that of legality as society expects the system to be cleared of corruption. 

“As to the NAC, we only appointed its head and he will do his job. We introduced pre-vetting so as to ensure profound changes. The process will start and the candidates for member of the SCP and SCM will be assessed by the end of May. We will have new institutions that will start the cleanup. Those who carry out the assessment do not have any political affiliation. On the one hand, civil society criticized us for not communicating. On the other hand, you want results. We must move on swiftly as the people fly to the UK and it is hard to bring them back home,” stated PAS MP Vasile Grădinaru.

Yesterday, Parliament confirmed the secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice Iulian Rusu as director of the National Anticorruption Center. He was appointed by the votes of the MPs of the Party of Action and Solidarity.