MP says Audit Bureau should submit quarterly report to House

AMMAN — The Audit Bureau should submit quarterly reports to the Lower House detailing its observations on irregularities at state agencies instead of a “bulky” report each year that “rarely tackles major issues”, a veteran lawmaker said on Tuesday.

MP Mahmoud Kharabsheh described the Audit Bureau’s annual report as mostly “unfocused”, containing minor violations, “yet important”.

“It is really illogical that the House follows up on violations listed in the report that is never less than 3,000 pages,” Kharabsheh said.

Instead of submitting “bulky” annual reports, the Audit Bureau should submit more “concise and compact” quarterly reports to the House so that the latter can handle the listed cases swiftly, the deputy added.

Constitutionally, he said, the bureau is the Chamber’s “monitoring arm” and should keep MPs informed even “daily and weekly” about violations committed by public agencies. 

According to Article 119 of the Constitution: “An Audit Office shall be set up by law for controlling the State’s revenues, its expenses and the manner of expenditure.”

Paragraph A of the article also reads: “The Audit Office shall submit to the Chamber of Deputies at the beginning of each ordinary session, or whenever the Chamber demands, a general report embodying its views and comments and indicating any irregularities committed and the responsibility arising therefrom.”

Kharabsheh also stressed the need to form a specialised parliamentary committee tasked only with following up on the bureau’s reports.

He argued that “major cases” are always absent from the annual reports with the focus on “marginal” violations here and there such as the use of public cars, “nevertheless important” but at the “expense of major issues”.

“It has to be admitted that when it comes to protecting public money and enhancing values of transparency and integrity, both the Chamber and the government are not doing enough. Constitutional and institutional work from both sides is always missing. In most cases, both authorities’ work is based on personal and not national agendas,” Kharabsheh said.

Earlier this week, Audit Bureau President Mustafa Barari presented the bureau’s 63rd report for the year 2014 to Senate President Abdur-Ra’uf S. Rawabdeh and Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh.