"Tidbits From TNT" Monday 9-19-2022

Sep 19

TNT:

CandyKisses: The disappearance of "large" sums topples the Iraqi tax director and other officials

An official source in the Iraqi Ministry of Finance revealed, on Monday, that the director of the Tax Authority and his assistant and a number of directors have been exempted due to the disappearance of large sums of money from tax revenues.

The source told Shafaq News Agency, "An investigation was opened due to the disappearance of large sums of revenue from the General Tax Authority, and as a result, the director general of the authority, his assistant and a number of department managers in the authority were exempted."

He added, "During the next few days, arrest warrants will be issued against a number of persons and officials involved in this file, including officials in the tax authority."

The source confirmed that "the investigation is still ongoing by specialized committees from the Ministry of Finance, the Integrity Commission and the Financial Supervision Bureau."

And circulated news, whose accuracy could not be confirmed by Shafak News, that the amounts under investigation for its disappearance amounted to 800 million dollars.

Tishwash: Iraq is waiting for a new financial crisis before the end of this year

The country needs to legislate an emergency law to replace the budget

On the Iraqi scene, the budget crisis, whose political obstruction led to its failure to legislate for the year 2022 and its replacement by the Emergency Food Security Support Law, with the aim of continuing the work of the state and meeting the requirements and needs of Iraqi citizens in various fields, appears once again on the Iraqi scene.

The Iraqi parliament voted in early June on the emergency food security support law, whose expenditures were set at 25 trillion Iraqi dinars (17 billion dollars) to be an alternative to the 2022 budget after the failure of the political blocs to form a new government that would have full powers to pass laws, including the budget.

budget alternative

In light of the continuing political stalemate and the inability to form a new Iraqi government, and the Sadrist movement’s demand to dissolve parliament and organize early elections, the budget legislation, according to followers, “has become impossible,” and therefore the possible alternative is emergency food support that may see the light before the end of the current year to manage the affairs of the Iraqi state and its citizens until a new government is formed.

The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, believes that it is not possible to approve a general budget in the country without the presence of an elected government, while he suggested the possibility that the Federal Court would issue a legal opinion on this matter, and said that “the legal path in preparing the budget of the Republic of Iraq was organized in accordance with the provisions of the chapter. The third of the amended Federal Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019, indicating that Article 11 of the law clearly and explicitly states the following: “The Council of Ministers shall discuss, approve and submit the draft federal budget law to the House of Representatives before mid-October (October) from every year".

Federal Fatwa

Saleh added that it is not possible to approve a general budget for the country without the presence of an elected government that submits it to the legislative authority to issue the federal general budget law, expecting that the Federal Supreme Court will enter through a fatwa with a legal exit because it is the highest legal authority in the country.

EXCLUSIVE POWERS

The financial advisor to the Prime Minister continued that Article 80 of the constitution clearly indicates that the general budget is submitted exclusively by the authority, explaining that Article 62 of the constitution explicitly stipulates that the Council of Ministers submits the budget bill and final accounts to the House of Representatives.

legal conflict

He considered that Article 60 of the Constitution contradicts the text of Article 60/Second of the Constitution itself, which authorized 10 members of the House of Representatives or one of the Council’s competent committees to submit a proposed law for legislation similar to what happened in the legislation of the Emergency Law for Food Security and Development No. 2 of 2022 (provided that it does not It includes financial burdens), pointing out that it is possible for the executive authority to challenge it before the Federal Court if it is elected and with full powers.

And Saleh indicated that "due to the exceptional circumstance we live in with the presence of a daily caretaker government, we will have an experience that the country has not previously witnessed in legislation that carries financial burdens submitted by Parliament based on the provisions of Article 60 / Second of the Constitution."

within weeks

For his part, MP Ahmed Al-Haj Rasheed said that "the draft budget law should be approved by the Council of Ministers on September 15, and it should reach the House of Representatives on October 10 to be voted on before the end of the year."

There are no permissions

He declared that the current government does not have the authority to approve the budget, as it is a caretaker government, which lacks powers and cannot send bills to Parliament for approval.

He added that not approving the budget this year will mean resorting to the financial management law at a ratio of one to 12 from the previous year, indicating that this means relying on the operational expenditure mechanisms for the year 2021 as a measure in the next exchange.

Legal difficulties

Rashid explained that it is difficult to legislate another emergency support law because there is no legal document to refer to in this case, noting that the law on emergency support for food security has a specific time limit with clear paragraphs and cannot be reproduced again, and pointed out that the budget law is one of the important laws considering the financial plan For the government starting from the first of January of each year, indicating that no time has been set for legislating the budget law, and the House of Representatives can vote on it at any time when the bill reaches it.

other legislation

While the legal expert Ali Al-Tamimi indicated the possibility of legislating an emergency law for food security and development, provided that the government did not challenge it, and said that “the legislation of the Emergency Support Law No. To avoid appealing the draft law, according to Federal Court Decision No. 21 of 2015, which necessitated the introduction of financial bills from the government.

Avoid appeal

The House of Representatives voted on this law when enacting it with a proposal from one of the committees to avoid being challenged by others because the current government is a caretaker government and is not entitled to send bills in accordance with Federal Court decision 121 of 2022, according to Al-Tamimi, who indicated that the appellant should have an interest in The appeal is in accordance with Articles 1 to 7 of the Pleadings Law, and 20 of the Federal Supreme Court system, which means that the court enters into the Council of Ministers a third party to the case, who will refrain from objecting to the law because it agreed in principle.

He considered that the legislation of this law was correct and expected that the Federal Court would reject any case against him, even if the final decision belongs to this court link

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Littleman: "YESTERDAY" is history, "TOMORROW" is a mystery, but "TODAY" is a gift...That's why it's called the "PRESENT!"

Littleman: Please folks say some prayers for our country and the world. We need it.

CandyKisses: The source said in an interview with "Mawazine News" that "political forces, including the Sadrist movement and Sunni forces, are close to reaching an agreement to keep Al-Kazemi as prime minister."

Maggie: Sounds like good news if any of it is true. Not much truth in ANY news source these days.

RVAlready: I think the reality is Iraq must fix their problem, or the UN will do it for them. And the international community is in no mood to wait.

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Tishwash: A "violent" missile attack on the largest US military base in Syria

Arab media reported, on Sunday evening, that the largest US army base in one of the largest Syrian oil fields was subjected to a violent missile attack.

The Russian "Sputnik" news agency quoted a local source as saying that "the missile attack targeted the American base in the Green Zone inside the Al-Omar oil field, where sensitive sites were targeted, and the sounds of explosions were heard inside the American base."

The source stated, "Smoke and flames rose from inside the field, and ambulances and firefighters rushed into the field, while the American forces flew their war and reconnaissance aircraft over the Al-Omar field and the surrounding area."

So far, there have been no reports of injuries among the American soldiers residing in the residential city of Haql Al-Omar.

It is noteworthy that the American base had been subjected to a similar attack a few days ago, where the damage was limited to material only, according to Syrian media outlets.

Mot: ........ IRONY defined! ~~~~