What Should the Future Prosecutor General Be Like? President Maia Sandu Speaks Frankly

“Competent and courageous. These are two qualities that the future Prosecutor General of the Republic of Moldova must possess, without exception. The head of state, Maia Sandu, stated this in an interview on Jurnal TV. According to the President, the Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP) is responsible for selecting a candidate with these specific qualities for this important role.

“It’s very difficult to find the right person for this position (referring to the Prosecutor General’s position), but I hope that there will be good candidates from which the CSP can choose the best candidate,” said Maia Sandu.

Asked what should the future Prosecutor General be like, the President emphasized that the future Prosecutor General should possess some essential qualities, should not allow themselves to be influenced by the existing system but should also have the ability to reform it.

“Competent, courageous, and understanding of the current stage and where we need to go. These are the main qualities that this person must possess. They shouldn’t allow themselves to be used by the system, at the same time, they should be able to restructure the system, help it regain credibility, become a credible institution (referring to the General Prosecutor’s Office), and understand that the Prosecutor’s Office plays an important role in combating corruption. We should no longer hear statements like the ones we discussed earlier when Stoianoglo said that the Prosecutor’s Office has nothing to do with combating corruption,” the head of state pointed out.

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Additionally, Maia Sandu mentioned that she had some “misunderstandings” with the former Prosecutor General, Alexandr Stoianoglo, in this regard.

“I told him that we want strong institutions in this country to combat corruption and sanction it. Sometime after that, Mr. Stoianoglo came and told me that he, in general, didn’t understand why the General Prosecutor’s Office had to deal with combating corruption and why I was raising these issues. I never asked him to commit any illegal acts; I asked for orders to be carried out, especially in the case of the bank fraud,” Sandu concluded.

The Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP) approved the regulation for organizing the competition for the position of Prosecutor General of the Republic of Moldova on October 23. A CSP member issued a separate opinion on this matter. Following this decision, the launch of the competition for the Prosecutor General position should be announced no later than 30 days.

It should be noted that the Prosecutor General, Alexandr Stoianoglo, was suspended from office and accused of illicit enrichment. On October 5, 2021, Stoianoglo was detained at the headquarters of the General Prosecutor’s Office.

On September 26, 2023, President Maia Sandu signed a presidential decree to remove Alexandr Stoianoglo from the position of Prosecutor General, based on the CSP decision from May 23, 2022.”