Kanaan: Safadi Report Seeks to Reach Settlement on Extra-Budgetary Spending

The head of the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan slammed Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi’s report on the extra-budgetary spending of the governments of former Premiers Fouad Saniora and Saad Hariri, saying that he omitted various forms of revenue, such as grants and donations.

He told As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Wednesday: “It appears that the report is aimed at allowing a settlement to be reached over extra-budgetary spending.”

He said that facts and figures were “altered”, adding that they are seeking to reach a settlement on the dispute instead of “clarifying matters.”

Earlier in March, Safadi was tasked with preparing a draft-law on the extra-budgetary spending made by the governments of Saniora and Hariri between 2006-2010, drawing the ire of the March 14 opposition which is demanding a comprehensive solution that would also include the adoption of a $5.9 billion 2011 spending bill.

The minister had stated that financial violations were committed in those years and the spending was in reality more than $16 billion.

The extra-budgetary spending has been a source of contention between the Hizbullah-led March 8 forces and the opposition March 14 alliance, mainly al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, since the cabinet referred a $5.9 billion 2011 extra-budgetary spending bill to parliament for approval.

The opposition boycotted two parliamentary sessions to thwart the adoption of the bill, conditioning their approval to the settlement of the controversy on the $11 billion spent between 2006 and 2009.

Another $5 billion was spent by Hariri’s national unity cabinet in 2010 but the major controversy lies on the $11 billion spending after the Change and Reform bloc said it was riddled with corruption.