The Coalition for Accountability and Integrity- AMAN held a conference to discuss the expenditures scandal of a few ministers which has recently been prominent in the media. It was attended by the Ministers of Social Affairs, Labor, Health, Transportation and Communications and the Chairman of Energy Authority. the Public Accountant participtned in the conference as well as PLC deputies, Khalida Jarrar, Sahar Al-Qawasmi and Qais Abu Laila, who are also members of parliamentarians against corruption. Moreover, a group of Regulatory organizations, Civil and Media Institutions and the Civil Team for budget transparency control have also attended the conference.
No offense intended; Accountability is the citizens' given right
Media coverage of a corruption practices created a strong backlash for two reasons. First, it coincided with the financial crisis the Palestinian National Authority is undergoing. Second, the availability of public expenditures logs on the PNA’s computerized financial system thus reinforcing transparency which helps monitor the expenditure of public funds noted the Commissioner of AMAN, Dr. Azmi Al Shuaibi. He also noted that with the absence of the role of the PLC, these issues were kept afloat and negatively impacted the efforts made to combat corruption while it created confusion for citizens. He added that citizens have the right to ask for information and are entitled to answers in a transparent and vivid manner.
The PNA and the other institutions should not be influenced by this confusion neither should they be discouraged to publish information. We care for transparency which is the key to accountability
Participants asked the Public Accountant to justify expenses of PNA officials which the media covered. Mr. Yousef Al-Zumor clarified that most of the expenses are accurate and were documented under the Social Sector Item which includes institutions, very large sectors and many of the ministries such as Health and Education Ministers that are not within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Social Affairs.
He also added that expenditures went through the proper procedures of the system. As for the expenditure of some ministers, most of them are stipulated in the financial system of the Palestinian Authority.
He asserted that some information did create confusion and included expenses of irrelevant people. This process follows regulations stipulated many years ago, while now is the time to review and amend these regulations.
Al-Zumor clarified that the Ministry of Finance has adopted a transparent financial system that functions accurately. He also added that the control institutions can access all information. As for miscellaneous items and special expenditure of the security apparatus, they are disbursed for officials of the security apparatus yet not from the financial system as each apparatus determines its priority which differ from one another.
Al-Masry: The Ministry of Finance was late in giving explanations
Majida Al-Masry, Minister of Social Affairs noted that the Ministry of Finance should have produced explanations of these figures immediately after the media covered the issue in order to avoid confusion among citizens.
Al-Kronz: citizens’ confidence in control authorities might be shaken
Dr. Sadi Al-Kronz , Minister of Transportation and Communication, said that deviating facts is a dangerous thing to do because it conceals the truth and it causes the citizens to lose their confidence in the control institutions. Thus, citizens deserve to have correct information so that accountability is built on a solid foundation.
Deputy Khalida Jarar confirmed the clear absence of control while transparency is not about publishing information only. She asserted that citizens, CSOs and the PLC should take part in prioritizing expenditure. She added that the absence of the role of the PLC has increased the confusion and weakened the role of control over the country’s institutions. Dr. Sahar Al-Qawasmi also confirmed that accountability is a given right for each Palestinian and that every official must be held accountable and should undertake the responsibility and handle it seriously. She added that the PLC Deputies must have a full access to the financial system to monitor all the expenditure.
The Public Accountant clarified that the PLC does not yet have access to the computerized financial system, while if connected, then each member can have access to every detail of the expenditure of the public funds.
Mr. Qais Abu Leila, PLC member, stressed that all this confusion should be a reason to refrain from adopting the concept of transparency. There are attempts to keep things vague which could affect combating corruption and flip it over by way of redirecting focus from actual corruption cases to other irrelevant issues.
Dr. Shuaibi closed the conference stressing that we must differentiate between Accountability and the accusation of corruption. Accountability is the citizen’s given right and officials must be ready to answer and explain any question.
Participants explained that the role of media is important, necessary and complementary to the role of the civil work or the control institutions as long as it works in an objective and professional way without framing information for slandering or political reasons.
At the end of the conference they agreed to hold a follow-up conference led by AMAN next Monday to set a vision by the civil society about the PNA financial policies for the next phase in order to rationalize the public expenditure and provide financial resources without being at the expense of the Palestinian citizen.
