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BAGHDAD, Feb. 29 (AKnews) - The State of Law Coalition (SLC) said the government intends to appeal the budget law in front of the Federal Court because of the "significant" discrepancies found in most of the financial allocations.
Coalition member Abdul Salam al-Maliki said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, leader of the SLC, will appeal the validity of the budget because there are disparities in the numbers submitted by the government.
"Delaying the budget will affect negatively the citizens and infrastructure projects and we wanted to solve all the problems before [the budget] reached the government, but the [discrepancies] must be addressed," Salam Maliki said.
The cabinet instructed the justice minister on Tuesday either to expedite the preparation of the disputes found within the budget or appeal the budget before the Federal Court, according to a statement issued by government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.
"The Council of Representatives will be more serious in presenting the budget this time and addressing the points of disputes," Dabbagh said.
The Iraqi government approved in its emergencymeeting on December 5 last year the 2012 budget of 117tr IQD ($100bn) with a deficit of 16tr IQD ($13.5bn). The Council of Representatives voted in favor of the budget on 23 of this month after making a number of changes to it, the most prominent being the cancellation of social benefits of 3bn IQD ($2.5m) each for the president, PM and house speaker.
Iraqi citizens have in the past protested against the lack of basic services that the successive governments were unable to provide despite the passage of nearly nine years since the former regime was toppled.
The 2012 budget grants loans for citizens to buy accommodation and for farmers without financial means in a bid to solve the housing crisis and activate the agricultural sector.
By Hussam Ali
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Coalition member Abdul Salam al-Maliki said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, leader of the SLC, will appeal the validity of the budget because there are disparities in the numbers submitted by the government.
"Delaying the budget will affect negatively the citizens and infrastructure projects and we wanted to solve all the problems before [the budget] reached the government, but the [discrepancies] must be addressed," Salam Maliki said.
The cabinet instructed the justice minister on Tuesday either to expedite the preparation of the disputes found within the budget or appeal the budget before the Federal Court, according to a statement issued by government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.
"The Council of Representatives will be more serious in presenting the budget this time and addressing the points of disputes," Dabbagh said.
The Iraqi government approved in its emergencymeeting on December 5 last year the 2012 budget of 117tr IQD ($100bn) with a deficit of 16tr IQD ($13.5bn). The Council of Representatives voted in favor of the budget on 23 of this month after making a number of changes to it, the most prominent being the cancellation of social benefits of 3bn IQD ($2.5m) each for the president, PM and house speaker.
Iraqi citizens have in the past protested against the lack of basic services that the successive governments were unable to provide despite the passage of nearly nine years since the former regime was toppled.
The 2012 budget grants loans for citizens to buy accommodation and for farmers without financial means in a bid to solve the housing crisis and activate the agricultural sector.
By Hussam Ali
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
