Naharnet

Miqati Works Round the Clock to Finalize Extra-Budgetary Spending Draft-Law

Prime Minister Najib Miqati has been involved in intense discussions with his team to prepare a draft-law that will seek to legalize the 2006-2010 extra-budgetary spending that has stirred controversy and retorts between the March 8 and 14 forces.

The cabinet tasked Miqati with referring the draft-law to the government during its next session at Baabda palace next Wednesday although it wasn’t mentioned in the agenda which was distributed to ministers on Saturday.

But An Nahar daily said that the premier is keen on drafting it before Wednesday. His sources also told al-Mustaqbal that the issue could be discussed from outside the agenda.

The bill includes three separate draft-laws on the details of the spending made in 2008, 2009 and 2010, the newspaper said, adding that each draft-law includes five articles on the expenses made by the governments of ex-PMs Fouad Saniora and Saad Hariri.

One of the articles states the authority of the Audit Bureau to check all the financial auditing.

The controversy on an $11 billion spending made between 2006 and 2009 erupted when the government referred a $5.9 billion 2011 spending bill to parliament for approval.

The bill faced the rejection of the March 14 opposition lawmakers who have conditioned their approval to a comprehensive settlement of the spending made since 2006.

Another $5 billion has been spent by Hariri’s national unity government in 2010.

But MP Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc, which is part of March 8, stated that its ministers would reject any bill that does not specify the Audit Bureau’s role in checking the accounts after it alleged that the $11 billion was marred by embezzlement.


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