2025 Budget: Legal Crisis and Financial Impacts
2025 Budget: Legal Crisis and Financial Impacts
12-28-2024
Information/Report..
Recently, questions have been raised about the delay in presenting the 2025 budget tables to Parliament, with multiple sources confirming that Parliament currently does not have sufficient information or details regarding these tables. This delay raises concerns about compliance with the legal and constitutional deadlines for presenting the budget, which is a legal violation that could affect the course of government work and budget planning.
According to the constitution and laws in force in most countries, the government is required to submit the draft budget to parliament within a specific time, to ensure its approval before the start of the new fiscal year. In case of delay or absence of timely schedules, this is considered a violation of the law, as the disbursement of funds from the public treasury cannot begin until parliament approves the budget.
On the other hand, the delay in submitting the budget is considered to have a negative impact on the national economy, as it leads to ambiguity about government spending priorities and disrupts development plans in various sectors. In addition, the absence of approval of the budget affects the confidence of international and local institutions in the government’s management of financial resources.
Speaking about this file, member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mustafa Al-Karaawi, revealed the existence of legal and constitutional violations by the government in sending the budget law to the House of Representatives.
Al-Karawi said in a statement to Al-Maalouma Agency, “Article 77, paragraph two of the Federal Triennial Budget Law indicated that the government must send the budget tables before the end of the fiscal year,” indicating that “the government sent only one amendment to the text of the budget, which is the text of Article 12 related to the costs of extracting oil in the region.”
He added, “Not sending the schedules on time is considered a legal and constitutional violation, and if the government proceeds with amendments to the items, there are many items that need to be amended and to be fair to many groups,” adding, “We recorded all of these observations in the previous sessions during the first reading of the amendment to the budget law.”
He explained that “his committee is working on re-amending the budget law and sending it to the government to work on general amendments to the law so that it is fair to all segments of society and addresses the problems in the previous budget.”
In this regard, member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Hussein Al-Saabari, confirmed that the proposed tables in the draft budget law are under study, and it is expected that they will be passed finally.
Al-Saabri stressed in a statement to Al-Maalouma Agency, “the necessity for the budget to be real and reflect everyone’s interests,” warning that “some amendments may benefit some parties at the expense of others, which is unacceptable.”
He explained that “the budget must be fair and just for all Iraqis, while ensuring that resources are distributed in a way that achieves the public interest without prejudice to the rights of any party.”
He pointed out that “the draft budget law has not yet reached Parliament, and that the Council and its Finance Committee are ready to receive it as soon as it arrives.”
This delay is expected to have legal repercussions, as those responsible for this delay may face legal accountability from members of parliament or the competent authorities, especially if there is exploitation or misuse of public funds as a result of the lack of an approved budget.
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