Monday, July 29, 2024

Manipulating budget tables is a scandal waiting to break out, 29 July

The issue of tampering with the budget schedules sparked great controversy in the House of Representatives, after approximately 2 trillion dinars from the budget were lost in a dramatic manner.

The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers sent a letter to the House of Representatives to inquire about the manipulation occurring in the budget tables, as it was stated in the letter, “After examining the printed tables attached to the Parliament letter signed by the ( acting) Speaker of the House of Representatives, it was revealed that there are fundamental differences in them compared to the sent copy.” From the Council of Ministers and contrary to the text of the parliamentary decision.

Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Representative Jamal Kujar, confirmed that the manipulation occurred after voting on the budget tables in Parliament. 

He pointed out in a press statement that it was not known who was the party that tampered with the schedules, calling for an investigation to be opened into the matter.

The House of Representatives held its twenty-seventh session, headed by Mr. Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, Acting Speaker of the House, today, Monday, and in the presence of 199 deputies. The House of Representatives voted last May 18 on the schedules of the federal general budget law.

It seems that suspicions of losing the amount revolve around the Finance Committee as well as the Presidency of the House of Representatives.

For its part, the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives vacated its space regarding the issue of tampering with the budget tables for the current year.

Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Ahmed Mazhar, told Al-Ma'louma Agency, “The committee is far removed from the issue raised regarding tampering with the budget tables. It discussed the tables according to the CD sent by the government and then submitted it for a vote to the Presidency of the House of Representatives.” 

He added, "The government's raising of the issue of tampering with 2 trillion dinars in the budget tables, as it claims, is very surprising."

He explained, “If there is tampering with the budget tables, then the Presidency of the House of Representatives can be questioned.”

In order to clear its name, Parliamentary Finance formed an investigative committee on the matter, which aroused the ire of the Presidency of the Iraqi Council of Representatives.

For his part, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Moeen Al-Kadhimi, expressed his surprise at the Parliament Presidency's objection to forming an investigative committee regarding the changes that occurred in the budget. 

Al-Kadhimi told Al-Maalouma Agency, “Forming an investigative committee is the prerogative of the Finance Committee, expressing his regret over the objection of the Presidency of Parliament to the formation of the committee that does not require approval.”

He added, "The Finance Committee is in the process of inquiring about the reason for the difference in the budget tables between the parliamentary version and the government version, noting that the committee asked the relevant authorities to reveal the manipulation of the numbers."

In addition, the representative of the State Support Bloc, Muhammad Al-Ziyadi, confirmed that signatures had been collected to include a paragraph discussing the government's claim that the versions of the budget tables were different after voting on them.

Al-Ziyadi told the Maalouma Agency, “The government sent a letter to the House of Representatives claiming that the schedules that were sent to it by Parliament after the House of Representatives voted on them differ from those schedules that it sent to Parliament.”

He added, "This book created a confused atmosphere between Parliament and the government, and parliamentary signatures were collected to include a paragraph to discuss the issue in order to determine the truth of the dispute between Parliament and the government regarding the schedules and who was the party behind it.  link

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