The NAC on the proposal for the Parliament to appoint the general director of TRM: “It contradicts all national and international anticorruption standards”

According to the draft law, the general director of the national public media services provider is to be appointed by the Parliament, following the proposal of the Supervisory and Development Board of TRM. In the opinion of the NAC, however, the implementation of the proposed provisions “may lead to acts of corruption by public agencies responsible for assessing and designating candidates for the position of general director of the national public media services provider.” According to the NAC experts, the proposed amendments “contradict all national and international anticorruption standards,” given that, according to the integrity law, “the recruitment and promotion of agencies within public entities shall be carried out through public competition, in line with transparent and objective merit-based criteria, professional qualification, capacity, competence and professional integrity.” “At the same time, the direct appointment of the general director by the Parliament, in the absence of a public competition, will lack the necessary transparency, causing the process to take place in an obscure framework both in terms of access to candidate status and the administrative procedure carried out,” says the NAC in its official opinion.

The NAC representatives recommend reviewing the proposed rule and regulating the procedure of public competition for the position.

The NAC experts also object to the phrase “who must be a person of integrity” in relation to the quality of BC and SDB members. In their opinion, in this context, this phrase “is mostly declarative, as the author does not determine how this aspect will be evaluated, so it becomes a prerogative of the evaluator.” The NAC recommends establishing ways to demonstrate the integrity of a candidate (e.g. the certificate of integrity).

The draft law providing for the return of the Teleradio-Moldova Company under parliamentary control was voted in the first reading on 21 October. The authors of the initiative propose that the general director of TRM be appointed by the Parliament, at the proposal of the Supervisory and Development Board (the new name of the Supervisory Board). At the same time, the authors want the MPs to be able to dismiss the general director of TRM “if they find improper performance or non-performance of his duties.” The legislators also propose the terms of office of the current SB members, general director and deputy directors of TRM to cease when the initiative enters into force.