Propagandas won’t weaken our will for equal budget: Rahmani

KABUL (Pajhwok): Wolesi Jirga speaker Mir Rahman Rahmani on Wednesday rejected claims that the lower house had taken the budget plan hostage, saying ‘such propagandas’ could not deter the will of lawmakers for maintaining a balance in budgetary allocations.

The Wolesi Jirga has twice rejected the budget plan for 1400 fiscal year due to what lawmakers said removal of more than 1,100 provincial projects, increase in budget for emergency codes and imbalanced provincial allocations.

An official, who wished to go unnamed, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Tuesday that some lawmakers including Wolesi Jirga speaker had held the next fiscal year’s budget plan hostage seeking to remove fund allocations for fuel supplies to the ministries of interior and defense and award their contracts to some specific companies, but the lower house rejected the claim.

At today’s session, Rahmani said, “Some power greedy figures from the address of parliament are spreading propagandas to attack people’s hopes and confuse their mind about equalization of salaries.”

The propagandas that the lower house had taken hostage the budget plan would not change the will of lawmakers for an equal budget, he said.

Rahmani said lawmakers were committed to discharging their responsibilities about balancing the budget.

He asked the government to consider suggestions of lawmakers in the budget plan and send the draft to the house for approval in time.

“Any decisions regarding the budget plan are authority of the Wolesi Jirga and if the government has no will to send the plan with changes to the house, lawmakers would decide about the final plan with required changes and the government would be responsible for executing it”, he said.

Finance and Budget Commission of the lower house also rejected claims that the house’s speaker and some other lawmakers held the budget hostage.

mds/ma