Parliament prepares budget

The Parliament is preparing a calculation of costs for the next year's budget. The parliament budget will not be any bigger next year, regardless of a new rule according to which the parliament will itself “tailor” its costs. Parliament prepares budget Although the Law for the Parliament has “untied the hands” of the legislative body to decide how much money it needs, the final decision will depend on the Finance Ministry’s assessment. Therefore, it is likely that the parliament will be independent only on paper. This year MPs have RSD 745.5mn and expert offices RSD 863.3mn at their disposal. The budget for 2011 will probably remain within these limits. Parliament Secretary Veljko Odalovic has already prepared a draft budget but he is waiting for the Finance Ministry to say how much money from the state budget the parliament could get. “In the first year there will be no shifts regarding the budget issue,” Deputy President of the Parliamentary Finance Committee Branka Ljiljak of the Democratic Party (DS) explained to daily Vecernje novosti. “Ownership relations haven’t been solved yet and we won’t be able to have incomes from renting buildings or selling souvenirs,” she stressed. All parliamentary groups have been sent questionnaires about what equipment they do not have, how much money they need for next year, in order to maybe add the requests to the budget. However, Deputy Head of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) parliamentary group Jorgovanka Tabakovic told the daily that they had not received these guidelines. “There is no information on how much money was spent last year or within which framework the amounts for the next one are,” she emphasized. “The letter looks like a hoax, in order for us to write that we, for example, need several computers and then to use it before the media to show that we are greedy,” she said. The Law for the Parliament also envisages that the spending of the money will be controlled by an internal auditor. The opposition’s main objection is that the auditor will be a subordinate of the parliament’s secretary who is handling the calculation of the costs. (Beta)

Parliament prepares budget

Although the Law for the Parliament has “untied the hands” of the legislative body to decide how much money it needs, the final decision will depend on the Finance Ministry’s assessment.

Therefore, it is likely that the parliament will be independent only on paper.

This year MPs have RSD 745.5mn and expert offices RSD 863.3mn at their disposal. The budget for 2011 will probably remain within these limits.

Parliament Secretary Veljko Odalović has already prepared a draft budget but he is waiting for the Finance Ministry to say how much money from the state budget the parliament could get.

“In the first year there will be no shifts regarding the budget issue,” Deputy President of the Parliamentary Finance Committee Branka Ljiljak of the Democratic Party (DS) explained to daily Večernje novosti.

“Ownership relations haven’t been solved yet and we won’t be able to have incomes from renting buildings or selling souvenirs,” she stressed.

All parliamentary groups have been sent questionnaires about what equipment they do not have, how much money they need for next year, in order to maybe add the requests to the budget.

However, Deputy Head of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) parliamentary group Jorgovanka Tabaković told the daily that they had not received these guidelines.

“There is no information on how much money was spent last year or within which framework the amounts for the next one are,” she emphasized.

“The letter looks like a hoax, in order for us to write that we, for example, need several computers and then to use it before the media to show that we are greedy,” she said.

The Law for the Parliament also envisages that the spending of the money will be controlled by an internal auditor.

The opposition’s main objection is that the auditor will be a subordinate of the parliament’s secretary who is handling the calculation of the costs.