NNA - In a radio interview on Saturday, MP Michel Aoun commented on the recently published book on waste expenditure by the Change and Reform Parliamentary Bloc. He pointed to two natural consequences in the wake of the book's release, namely judicial measures in light of committed violations that entail imprisonment, on one hand; and political penal measures, on the other hand, Aoun explained.


Aoun tackled the various aspects of the published book, which shed light on the shortcomings of previous governments; especially with regards to waste expenditure and embezzlement of public funds. Aoun stressed that a politician in power ought to be held responsible and accountable for his faults and oversights. He disclosed that thousands of certified documents exist as proof of wasted public funds exposed in the book. However, he indicated that in certain instances, the absence of documentation is to be considered proof in itself, since funds spent without documentation stand as proof of the committed crime, he noted.

Responding to a question whether or not the book provides a kind of audit means for the future, Aoun denied such a possibility; adding that existing audit laws and public expenditure accountability measures are enough for audit purposes, on condition of proper implementation. "The problem today lies in failure to apply audit rules, just as is the case with the Constitution and Laws; since human nature veers more towards committing faults, money embezzlement and acquiring illegal wealth in the absence of law implementation," added Aoun.


Aoun considered that the Judiciary Body is faced with a huge responsibility in taking necessary action, in light of the information revealed in his Bloc's published book. "The book includes all State funds that have been wasted with no accountably; an action classified as a crime," Aoun stressed. He reiterated that accountability can be judicial through justice; and political through the people, namely in the parliamentary elections. He added, "Whoever was in power ought not to return to it; since parliament members shoulder a huge responsibility in this case, for they maintained silence at the time when they were entitled to monitor and reveal violations!"


Aoun ruled-out the possibility for accepting any kind of "settlement" in this respect, for he would become an "accomplice" in such a case, he added. Moreover, Aoun voiced utter rejection to any mediation attempt in this regards; demanding questioning and investigation into the issue at hand to begin before Justice. "We are referring to corruption at high levels in power and not at the level of State administrators," added Aoun.


Over the electoral law, Aoun indicated that the "Orthodox Law" shall be proposed before the joint House commissions for deliberation; since all other proposed laws are intended for achieving certain benefits instead of public rights, he noted. "Any project law proposal that fails to respect the detailed content of Article #24 of the Constitution is considered unconstitutional; since the Constitution stipulates rights while the electoral law stipulates mechanism to distribute said rights," Aoun explained. Hence, he stressed that the mechanism ought to be consistent with the law, so as to provide citizens with their rights. He added that compromises can never be at the level of people's rights in this respect.


Aoun highlighted, herein, the government's right to rule by legislative decrees in case of void in the Parliament Council.



================ R.Sh.