Opposition parties have filed at the Supreme Court for a temporary order to halt the parliamentary vote on the proposed state budget of MVR 27.9 billion for 2018.
The case, which was filed under public interest, stated that the state budget is considered on the same level as passing of legislatures. Thus, the opposition requested the apex court for a ruling that the budget can only be passed with the votes of more than half the parliament members, in accordance with Subject 87 of the Constitution and Subject 38 of parliamentary regulations.
Subject 87 (b) of the Constitution states that “… voting on any matter requiring compliance by citizens shall only be undertaken when more than half of the total membership of the [parliament] are present at the sitting at which the matter is voted upon”.
Subject 38 of the parliamentary regulations interpret “matters requiring compliance by citizens” as a certain set of legislatures. In reference to Subject 70 (b) of the Constitution, the regulations state that the state budget and supplementary budget fall under the law making powers of the parliament, as they comprise of matters regarding citizens’ expenses, taxes and several liability.
Thus Subject 97 of the Constitution states that the Executive shall not “spend any public money or property; levy any taxation; obtain or receive money or property by loan or otherwise; provide any sovereign guarantees” unless they are pursuant to a law enacted by the parliament.
The opposition parties have dubbed the state budget proposed by the government for the coming year as a “huge deception”, and declared that they will not vote in favour. However, the government maintains that the budget is imperative for the people’s progress and nation development.
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