Parliamentarian Mohamed Nasheed has stated it is imprudent for the current administration to submit the state budget, which would be implemented by the incoming government. The former legal affairs minister made the statement at the third sitting of the third session of parliament held Tuesday morning.
The comment comes at a time when Minister of Finance and Treasury Ahmed Munawar has assured the proposed state budget for 2019 would be that of the incoming government with both parties working together on formulating the budget. The proposed state budget for the coming year should be submitted to parliament two months prior to the end of the fiscal year, which falls on October 31, according to the Public Finance Act. The president-elect would be sworn in after the deadline comes to a close.
Speaking in this regard, Nasheed criticised how the parliament has decided to recess to coincide with the end of the academic year, obliging the relevant ministries to be forced into meeting the said deadline. He proposed the cabinet formed by the incoming president should be given a fair chance to submit the budget. He said the Public Finance Act forgets a presidential election falls every five years, which causes a huge inconvenience.