Rayale Rebuffs the 2007 Budget Endorsed By Parliament

A press statement issued by the President to parliament stated that he is unable to comply with the amendments made by parliament to the national proposed budget for the year 2007, which was submitted to parliament by his ministry of finance in February this year. The statement further said, "The amendments made to the ministry of finance’s budget for the year 2007 by the house parliament committee for finance and economics is unconstitutional and unlawful, and parliament has gone beyond its constitutional duties and legal framework.”

The statement added that “The 2002 budget submitted by the former administration of president M. I Egal for the Ministry of the Office of the President (MOP) was 3.66% extra more than the current amount allocated in 2007 budget for Rayale’s MOP and that he [Rayale] does not know why parliament slashed his MOP. Parliament has made these amendments to my government's submitted budget for the year 2007 for unknown other reasons that have to do with other realities of unsubstantiated import," the statement elaborated.

The president referred to articles of the constitution numbered 37, 55, 90, and 94, and stated that these articles and their clauses in the constitution gives him the right to rebuff the amendments parliament made to his ministry of finance's 2007 budget, and that he has the right to direct parliament to approve his government's budget without attaching any amendments.

President Dahir Rayale Kahin, in a firm and clear tone said that he “utterly rejects whatever amendments parliament had made to his budget submitted for the year 2007.” He also added that there is no way he would approve these amendments.

This is the first time in the history of Somaliland, since 1991, that a president has rejected or returned the national budget back to parliament.

The parliamentary house committee of finance and economics had made alterations and amendments to the 2007 national budget, including cuts in the budget allocated for the presidency and the ministry of finance, and awarded the amounts saved with those cuts to the ministries of education, health, prison rations and essentials, and extra subsidy for the local and national elections.

SL Times asked Muhammad Nur Arale, the secretary of the house committee that made these amendments what he thought of the president's rebuff of parliament's amendments? He said, "It never occurred to us that the president would reject these amendments, and that he would return the budget a second time to parliament. It has taken us all by surprise. We approved these amendments according to our constitutional capacities. The constitution gives parliament the right to amend, reject or approve the national budget submitted to parliament by the government. I am therefore bewildered by the president's action".

Source: Somaliland Times

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