The office of deputy prosecutor general will be used as a springboard for David Sakvarelidze’s appointment to directorship of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU). At least, such is experts’ response to a sudden surge of media activity regarding this ally of former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, which included a fake news of his appointment as director of the NABU and two lengthy interviews, centered on fighting corruption, which he gave to top Ukrainian media on the same night.
There is a little issue here, though: Sakvarelidze does not speak Ukrainian. Meanwhile, as member of the Selection Committee (SC) for Electing Director of the NABU Kessler noted in an interview with The Day (“Which appointee can eradicate embezzlement?” published in No. 9 on February 12, 2015), command of the official language of Ukraine is a must for the NABU’s director according to the current law on the NABU.
Experts have called the Sakvarelidze affair the second test for the SC which will show how strong is its respect for the law. Let us recall that the first test happened when the SC first admitted foreigners as candidates for the office, and then famously thought better about it and reconsidered its decision.
“As Sakvarelidze does not speak the official language, the commission may not include him in the three-person short list to be sent to the president. They may fail to exclude his candidacy while analyzing the submitted documents (because command of the language is not evident from them), but they should definitely exclude him after the interview as he does not meet the competition’s requirements. This discussion will immediately make clear which members of the commission are genuine ‘moral authorities,’” chairman of the board of the Anti-Corruption Action Center Vitalii Shabunin told The Day.
In the meantime, The Day asked member of the SC Viktor Musiiaka about current work of the commission and any signs of the government pressure on him. Let us recall that Musiiaka voted against the SC’s decision to admit foreigners as candidates for the office of the NABU’s director, which ran contrary to the current Law of Ukraine “On the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.”
How many candidates have been excluded already?
“So far, we have not excluded any candidate. We need a special decision of the SC for it, but to pass it, we need to hold a special meeting with a quorum. We are sorting out applications so far, separating problematic ones and ones which make clear that the candidates who sent them should be excluded from the competition.
“When we will have all the applications sorted out, we will announce the decision on who we will exclude and which candidates we will invite to interview. I think it will happen in late February.”
Have you considered all the applications?
“No, we have not. Just over 100 have been considered already, out of 175. Still, I think we will finish the job by February 22.”
The live feed of the SC’s latest meetings shows just three to four members working on applications. Where are the rest? Do they consider applications remotely?
“No, they do not. We have a problem. Some foreign members of the SC cannot always be physically present at meetings, so we actually work, as they say, ‘covering for the absent colleague.’ Typically, four of us show up, and sometimes as many as five.
“Of course, there will be more of us in the room when we will meet candidates in person. The interview stage requires at least six people to be present. Otherwise, there will be no quorum for a decision.”
What is your forecast on when the SC will be able to propose to the president three candidates for the office of the Director of the NABU?
“I think we will narrow the list down to two dozen candidates by the end of February.
“We will still need to send applications of our selected candidates for a check, though, as we may send not three, but five to seven applications for a check. This special check may take up to two weeks according to the law, but I think that it will be carried out as quickly as possible.
“Out of the people who will pass the check, we will choose three candidates to be sent to the president.”
Is someone trying to influence the SC’s work?
“No. I have heard from my fellow members that such rumors do spread over social networks from time to time, but I can assure you, as a member of the SC, that nothing of the kind happens. Truth be said, it is simply not needed. For me, it has been clear from the outset that only a person acceptable to the president will become the NABU’s director, because the SC will choose not one but three candidates, enabling the president to appoint his ally, provided they have been short listed.”
