The participants in the meeting held by the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity - AMAN to discuss the report entitled "The effectiveness of the official monitoring institutions in the Gaza Strip" on the need to publish reports issued by the Financial and Administrative Control Burea and the importance of activating the monitoring role of the Legislative Council as the main official pillar of oversight and accountability. The study found that many regulatory institutions still block information and do not publish financial and administrative reports on the activities of monitoring institutions, which raises many questions about the effectiveness of the mechanisms of work in the regulatory institutions.
Researcher Dr. Bassam Abu Hashish, reviewed the main objectives of the report in analyzing the legal environment to combat corruption and analyzing the political, economic and social environment of the Gaza Strip, as well as the analysis of the effectiveness of the monitoring role of official institutions in the Gaza Strip.
The report dealt with a diagnosis of the working environment of the monitoring institutions in the Gaza Strip, examining their independence and impartiality, and their role in following up and prosecuting corruption cases in the Gaza Strip. The researcher assessed the strengths, progresses, challenges and gaps in their work, aiming to provide assistance to decision makers in the regulatory institutions to take the necessary measures to reduce the spread of corruption in the Gaza Strip.
The report added that the lack of an anti-corruption committee in the Gaza Strip weakened the process of prosecuting the corrupt. He also said that the failure of the anti-corruption law in the Gaza Strip added a new burden on the regulatory institutions and the accountability and prosecution of corrupt.
Mr. Ismaeel Mahfouth, Head of the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau, stated that the Bureau is responsible for monitoring the performance of public institutions in the Gaza Strip, whereas many reports are submitted to the Legislative Council, some of which are submitted daily, quarterly or annually such as the Annual Report which was submitted in May,2016 on the work of the Bureau in 2016. Some citizen’s complaints are related to prejudice to the public money and the misuse of powers by some officials, such complaints are submitted to the Palestinian Public Prosecution and others are submitted to the legislative council without being published, which weakens the credibility of the monitoring process for the citizens.
As for the budget, the Legislative Council does not take action in voting for governmental institution’s budget, as there is a financial plan which is monitored through the reports of the SAACB.
The role of the Legislative Council in combating corruption does not fulfill the objectives; hence it’s weak and needs various efforts to activate the role of monitoring and social accountability. The Independent Commission for Human Rights, 2015 noted that the disruption of the Legislative Council’s work lead to its weakness in performing its duties whether in the administrative or financial field.
