Somalia: Puntland Parliament unanimously passes 2009 budget
7 May 7, 2009 - 1:57:15 PM
GAROWE, Somalia May 7 (Garowe Online) - The regional parliament in Somalia’s semiautonomous Puntland State has unanimously passed the 2009 budget after six days of negotiations, Radio Garowe reports.
Parliament Speaker Abdirashid Mohamed Hersi opened Thursday’s session, with 52 MPs and officials from the Ministry of Finance led by Minister Farah Ali Jama present.
The MPs opened debate on the new budget, which was formally introduced to parliament on Saturday by Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed “Farole,” the president of Puntland.
Puntland parliament leaders
Eight lawmakers gave speeches about areas of concern in the new budget. The debate touched on many topics: increasing government employee salaries, including the security forces; environmental concerns such as the banned use of plastic bags; and increasing salaries for the judicial system, including the Magistrate Court.
Finance Minister Jama was grilled for three hours and he answered most of the questions calmly and reasonably, telling lawmakers that the new administration has already increased the salaries of all government workers "by a percentage unheard of in the rest of the world.”
As an example, he cited salaries allocated to members of the security forces, which were increased by 80% from the base pay of 2008.
Sticking point
The Ministry of Finance officials were dismissed and the lawmakers took a twenty-minute break.
When the MPs returned, Speaker Hersi asked lawmakers to pass or reject “new sub-sections” on the 2009 budget that were not present in the earlier budgets, such as new funding allocated to fight against contraband.
All the new sub-sections were passed by majority vote, but lawmakers opened renewed debate about ratifying the entire 2009 budget.
Speaker Hersi politely asked journalists to leave the parliament building and he called Finance Minister Jama and the Ministry team to return to parliament.
Government sources said the lawmakers privately grilled the Finance Minister about guaranteeing minor changes made to the budget, especially the change that increased lawmakers’ salary base.
The 2009 budget was then passed unanimously, with all 52 MPs present voting yes.
Puntland, located in northeastern Somalia, is a federal state within Somalia and recently held a peaceful parliamentary election where Dr. Abdirahman Farole become Puntland's third elected president since the region's creation in 1998.
