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Dinning With Lawmakers Amidst Budget Deliberation |
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Written by Our Senior Staff
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Thursday, 12 July 2012 19:16 |
Pages of local dailies recently captured coordinated headlines reflecting a seeming lobby for passage of the 2012/13 National Budget by the 53rd National Legislature. By the way, the proposed fiscal budget is before the Legislature for deliberation as required by the Liberian Constitution for scrutiny before being passed into law for onward use by spending ministries and agencies of government.
Well, as many newspapers in Monrovia have reported of late, Finance Minister Amara Konneh has dinned with members of the Legislature amidst deliberation of the proposed budget now in the hands of the lawmakers. This reported development involving a top representative of the Executive Branch of the Liberian Government and members of the National Legislature appears to prick different interpretations from the public depending on how people analyze such engagement.
First and foremost, people have the impression that dinning with members of the First Branch of government as Minister Konneh has reportedly done could not have come out of a mere gesture rather than seeking a gentlemen agreement over the passage of the 2012/13 Fiscal Budget. Such engagement attributed to Minister Konneh has come about when there have been rumors of anticipated delay by the Legislature to pass the budget.
Secondly, people have argued about the expediency of a finance minister dinning with lawmakers during a period of budget deliberation. Critical thinkers have bluntly claimed that the move is an act designed to influence and tamper with the independent judgment of the Legislature regarding the passage of the budget. They feel that the lawmakers should be left alone to scrutinize the budget void of manipulations because attempts directed at influencing independent decision on a fiscal matter like national budget could sow the seeds of corruption, which the government has persistently vowed to fight.
Well, one would get worried if not confused to know if any wrong has taken place in the wake of this allegation. Even if Minister Konneh ever dinned with the lawmakers in what manner and form it was done remains a question to ponder over. Moreover, it should be established if there is any violation when one government official out of gesture takes on the responsibility to din with other officials whether or not they all fall under the same branch of government.
Anyway, one could equally be moved to make an issue out of a situation like this because Liberians now live in a seeming democratic society where freedom of speech has become a fulcrum of the country’s political dispensation. With this wave of talk, people seek to identify issues of national concerns to deliberate. So the news of Finance Minister Konneh visiting the Capitol Building during his first year of administration of the ministry when the budget crafted under his gavel of authority, which he defended but is yet to be passed into law; could make a good case from the circle of pundits that something outside of the rule of the game was possible to happen. Well, if others did this in the past and it became the tradition, Minister Konneh too could do it and the tradition stands.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 12 July 2012 19:23 |
