BIA budget sparks controversy

The budget of parliament, the president and the prime minister’s offices together is less than that of the security services (BIA). Parliament will not debate next year’s budget proposal today. BIA budget sparks controversy The government has withdrawn the budget in order for parliament to first adopt the laws necessary for calling presidential elections. Finance Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said that the budget would be returned to parliament in an unchanged form. The government has reduced parliament’s budget by EUR 19.1mn, meaning that next year, it will have over EUR 28mn at its disposal. Parliamentary Speaker Oliver Dulic said that parliament itself had made the decision “to tighten belts“, asking for less money than before. However, this raises the question whether such a move has been brought about by public criticism over MPs' short working hours and high salaries. “MPs work a lot and I think the public has been witness to this, anyone who turns on the TV can see how much they work. As far as half-empty chambers are concerned, MPs’ work does not just involve sitting in the chamber, they have a lot of work outside as well,“ said Dulic. Under the 2008 budget proposal, BIA will receive EUR 12.75mn more than parliament, in other words, over EUR 42mn. BIA undoubtedly has more employees than parliament, but the fact is that it is parliament that should control its work. Recently, in response to a parliamentary question as to his total salary, BIA chief Rade Bulatovic said that the matter was a state secret. “The fact we’re the poorer relation doesn’t mean that we won’t stringently control our brother who spends more of the state budget,“ assured the speaker. Officials from the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and the Serb Radical Party (SRS) all interpreted the BIA budget in different ways. “I don’t know, it’s hard for me to judge BIA’s requirements right now. That needs to be examined on paper, but it’s not a political matter,“ said the DSS’s Milos Aligrudic. “I’m glad that the budget has confirmed that we’re living in an UDBA (the security services’ name during the Milosevic era) project, not in a democracy,“ said LDP leader Cedomir Jovanovic. “I wouldn’t like to compare the importance of the two institutions, nor their expenses, though it certainly seems to be something of a paradox,“ said Democrat Nada Kolundzija. “Under the Constitution, parliament has to have a law and its own budget, it's failed to stand up for itself and has remained the government’s lapdog,“ said SRS leader Tomislav Nikolic. The president’s office will receive EUR 2.3mn, and the prime minister’s around EUR 7.5mn, over EUR 6.3mn less than the security services.

BIA budget sparks controversy

The government has withdrawn the budget in order for parliament to first adopt the laws necessary for calling presidential elections.

Finance Minister Mirko Cvetković said that the budget would be returned to parliament in an unchanged form.

The government has reduced parliament’s budget by EUR 19.1mn, meaning that next year, it will have over EUR 28mn at its disposal. Parliamentary Speaker Oliver Dulić said that parliament itself had made the decision “to tighten belts“, asking for less money than before.

However, this raises the question whether such a move has been brought about by public criticism over MPs' short working hours and high salaries.

“MPs work a lot and I think the public has been witness to this, anyone who turns on the TV can see how much they work. As far as half-empty chambers are concerned, MPs’ work does not just involve sitting in the chamber, they have a lot of work outside as well,“ said Dulić.

Under the 2008 budget proposal, BIA will receive EUR 12.75mn more than parliament, in other words, over EUR 42mn. BIA undoubtedly has more employees than parliament, but the fact is that it is parliament that should control its work. Recently, in response to a parliamentary question as to his total salary, BIA chief Rade Bulatović said that the matter was a state secret.

“The fact we’re the poorer relation doesn’t mean that we won’t stringently control our brother who spends more of the state budget,“ assured the speaker.

Officials from the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and the Serb Radical Party (SRS) all interpreted the BIA budget in different ways.

“I don’t know, it’s hard for me to judge BIA’s requirements right now. That needs to be examined on paper, but it’s not a political matter,“ said the DSS’s Miloš Aligrudić.

“I’m glad that the budget has confirmed that we’re living in an UDBA (the security services’ name during the Milošević era) project, not in a democracy,“ said LDP leader Čedomir Jovanović.

“I wouldn’t like to compare the importance of the two institutions, nor their expenses, though it certainly seems to be something of a paradox,“ said Democrat Nada Kolundžija.

“Under the Constitution, parliament has to have a law and its own budget, it's failed to stand up for itself and has remained the government’s lapdog,“ said SRS leader Tomislav Nikolić.

The president’s office will receive EUR 2.3mn, and the prime minister’s around EUR 7.5mn, over EUR 6.3mn less than the security services.