Ignoring Parliament in Budget Creation – Twilight of Democracy

(Patria) - The failure to adopt budgets at the state and federal levels within the prescribed legal deadlines represents yet another in a series of practices that undermine the credibility of democratic principles and values, the Center for Security Studies announced.

"The indication that this year, at these two levels of government, the same procedure of adopting the budget under an urgent procedure could be repeated as in the previous year, for the sake of the so-called 'raison d'être' (very important reasons), is a perfidious evasion of responsibility by representatives of the executive branch, that is, the political actors participating in it.

In modern democratic states, it is inconceivable that parliaments do not use their most powerful legislative tool and lever in overseeing executive branch institutions. The purpose of parliamentary control and oversight is precisely to hold the government accountable in carrying out the tasks and duties delegated to it by citizens through the trust shown during election cycles," CSS points out.

They add that for this purpose, representatives of parliaments, who, let us not forget, are directly elected by citizens, have been entrusted by constitutional and legal solutions with the power to adopt the budget and, through that legislative procedure, to direct and control government representatives to work in the best interest of citizens and society.

"It is truly inconceivable that parliamentary representatives, irresponsibly and, so to speak, condescendingly towards their political leaders, renounce the democratic views and principles of parliamentary democracy that are woven into the very core of our constitutional and political system.

The budget represents a comprehensive and coordinated financial plan that describes the allocation of resources to various state sectors and programs. Therefore, it is crucial that the content of the budget document is transparent, credible, and clearly expressed in order to foster citizen trust and ensure accountability.

To promote good governance and fiscal transparency, the active participation of legislative representatives in the budget process is essential. Most democratically developed countries submit the draft budget for the next year to the relevant parliamentary structures two or four months before the calendar year. During this period, the relevant committees and other parliamentary structures examine and analyze the submitted document in detail and submit their remarks and comments to the executive branch bodies for harmonization.

Only after that, the draft, and later the proposal, are submitted within the legally prescribed deadline for adoption, and consequently thereafter for expenditure control and monitoring of the implementation of public policies.

We hope that representatives of the legislative branch, for the sake of citizens' interests, will not fall into the same trap this year as in previous years, where under various pretexts they are prevented from timely and detailed consideration of the budget.

We are witnessing that in practice, temporary financing is also used, with which the government functions and demonstrates responsibility towards its voters and opposes the arrogant policy of a non-transparent and narrow-party approach to running state affairs," the CSS announced.