A group of lawmakers has sought a meeting with President Ashraf Ghani to find a solution to the budget plan dispute that has been ongoing for a month now. The budget has been rejected by the parliament two times for various reasons, mainly a Afs15 billion ($ 193.8 million) increase in the ordinary budget for the current fiscal year.
The current fiscal year started on December 21, but so far, the budget for fiscal year 1400 has not been approved.
The financial and budget committee of the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of parliament, said that, based on the budget plan, the government is removing 13,000 public servants, but it has increased the ordinary budget—from which the salaries of government employees are paid.
“We should assign a team to sit with the president and discuss the national budget of Afghanistan,” said Khalid Asad, an MP.
“Those who raised their voices in the first day about the equality in public employees’ salaries are now backing the position of the Palace today,” said Ziauddin Zia, an MP.
Going into details of the budget, other lawmakers said that the country is faced with major economic problems, but in one case, the Administrative Office of the President has asked for the allocation of $30 million for the purchase of vegetables as well as 17 different types of meat.
“The people have nothing eat, but they have ordered 17 types of meat… $30 million is the estimate for their vegetables,” said Khan Agha Rezaee, an MP.
“The government should increase the salaries of teachers, soldiers, workers and employees and it should practice balance in provinces,” said Ahmad Selab, an MP.
“The budget will be rejected unless the budget plan is balanced and the division is done justly,” said Kamal Nasir Osuli, an MP.
Another issue raised by the legislators is their request to ensure balance in the allocations of projects in the budget plan. But some lawmakers said that a number of their colleagues might ignore their request in this respect.
Parliament speaker Mir Rahman Rahmani said that the only demand of the Wolesi Jirga is ensuring people’s demands.
“The plan to equalize the salaries is justice… Justice is a key in Republic. The increase in salaries is the legitimate right of the people. How is this request not practical or at odds with the government?” Rahmani said.
The Ministry of Finance said that the third draft of the budget will be prepared within the next few days.
“Anything that is for improvement will be done by us, but implementation of all the requests is not possible,” said Finance Ministry spokesman Shamroz Khan Masjidi.
Based on their working principle, the lawmakers should start their winter recess at the end of this week, but the House speaker said that they will not start it unless the fate of the budget is determined.