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2007 Assessment

Egypt: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Egypt: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Budget Processes
Indicators		Score
37	Can the legislature provide input to the national budget?	17
38	Can citizens access the national budgetary process?	25
39	In law, is there a separate legislative committee which provides oversight of public funds?	100
40	Is the legislative committee overseeing the expenditure of public funds effective?	0

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Can the legislature provide input to the national budget?

37a: In law, the legislature can amend the budget.

Score:

YES

Comments: Article 86 of the Egyptian Constitution requires that the legislature approve the general plan for economic and social development in the general budget of the state. But according to article 118 of the Egyptian Constitution, the legislature is not permitted to amend the general budget proposal unless it has the consent of the government. Thus, if the legislature wants to amend general budget proposal, these amendments must be approved by the government - that is, the legislature has to approve the general budget proposal as presented by the government. The bylaw of the legislature defines the procedure for discussing the general budget proposal. In all cases, amendments made by the legislature must be approved by the government.

References: The Egyptian Constitution, articles 86-118; The bylaw of the People's Assembly (legislature), articles 133-136

Peer Review Comments: The latest constitutional amendments state that the legislative authority has the right to make changes to the general budget according to law no. 115 in the Constitution.

37b: In practice, significant public expenditures require legislative approval.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: All significant government expenditures (defined as any project costing more than 1% of the total national budget), must be approved by the legislature. This includes defense and secret programs, which may be debated in closed hearings. 50 Score Criteria: Most significant government expenditures (as defined) are approved by the legislature, but some exceptions to this rule exist. This may include defense programs, an executive\'s personal budget, or other expenses. 0 Score Criteria: The legislature does not have the power to approve or disapprove large portions of the government budget, or the legislature does not exercise this power in a meaningful way.$

Comments: Significant public expenditures require governmental, not legislative, approval. All amendments or suggestions by the legislature must be approved by the government, otherwise the budget proposal is returned to the legislature for further discussions.

References: Democracy Promotion Group, Mechanisms and Obstacles of Parliamentary Performance, 1998, P. 86.

Peer Review Comments: Providing additional funds must be approved by the People's Assembly according to recent constitutional amendments.

37c: In practice, the legislature has sufficient capacity to monitor the budget process and provide input or changes.

Score:

100

Comments: In practice, the legislature does not have sufficient capacity to monitor the budget process and provide input or changes. If the legislature has no capacity to amend the budget proposal when it is first presented for approval, then it would be impossible for the legislature to monitor the budget process and provide input or changes. Member attendance in the sessions dedicated to discussing the budget proposal is very weak (one fifth of the total number of members, according to some estimates). Most legislators' demands relate to the services that will be provided to their local directorates.

References: Democracy Promotion Group, Mechanisms and Obstacles of Parliamentary Performance, 1998, P. 77

Peer Review Comments: Some legislative authority members have the right to discuss with the government ways of providing general and special income. But the general budget has never been discussed in the parliament because most of the members belong to the National Democratic Party (NDP) and 50 percent of the members are laborers and farmers who are not specialists in these issues and do not know much about the general budget.

Can citizens access the national budgetary process?

38a: In practice, the national budgetary process is conducted in a transparent manner in the debating stage (i.e. before final approval).

Score:

100

Comments: In practice, citizens cannot access the national budgetary process in the debating stage. The national budgetary process is completely performed by government agencies (the Central Accounting Apparatus) and presented to the legislature for approval. Article 86 of the constitution requires that the next general budget of the state be presented to the legislature two months before the beginning of the new fiscal year and discussed chapter by chapter. The same article also states that the legislature is not permitted to amend the general budget unless its amendments are approved by the government. If the new budget is not approved before the beginning of the new fiscal year, the general budget of the last year comes into effect until the new one is approved. The national budgetary process passes through five stages with different agencies. The most effective of these are the Finance Ministry, which prepares the general budget proposal, the Plan and Budget Committee in the legislature, which discusses the budget before presenting it to all the members, and the Central Accounting Apparatus, which monitors implementing the budget by different ministries and state agencies and presents a report to the legislature.

References: Sherif Ahmed Sherif, The General Budget of the State, Administration Studies and Consultations Center, The Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, Cairo University, P. 17.

Peer Review Comments: There are always many items in the budget that are not identified, which include the expenses of the military and different security apparatuses.

38b: In practice, citizens provide input at budget hearings.

Score:

100

Comments: In practice, citizens cannot provide input at budget hearings. Only legislators can provide that input.

References: Article 118 of the Egyptian Constitution

Peer Review Comments: The plan and budget committee, which is affiliated with the legislative authority, organizes closed sessions to discuss the general budget before holding public sessions. These sessions must be attended by all legislative authority members and economic experts whose opinions are rarely taken into consideration.

38c: In practice, citizens can access itemized budget allocations.

Score:

100

Comments: In practice, citizens cannot access itemized budget allocations. Only media news relating to the discussions of general budget can give citizens limited information on the itemized budget allocations.

References: Sherif Ahmed Sherif, The General Budget of the State, Administration Studies and Consultations Center, The Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, Cairo University, P. 14

In law, is there a separate legislative committee which provides oversight of public funds?

39: In law, is there a separate legislative committee which provides oversight of public funds?

Score:

YES

Comments: The Plan and Budget Committee in the legislature is a separate legislative committee that provides oversight of public funds via the Central Accounting Apparatus. That apparatus assists the plan and the budget committee in monitoring the implementation of the approved budget.

References: Ahmed Isam-Idean Omar, The General Budget of The State, Administration Studies and Consultations Center, The Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, Cairo University, P. 19.

Is the legislative committee overseeing the expenditure of public funds effective?

40a: In practice, department heads regularly submit reports to this committee.

Score:

100

Comments: In practice, department heads (ministers) regularly do not submit reports to the Plan and Budget Committee. Only the Central Accounting Apparatus makes a report on budget implementation and hands it to the Plan and Budget Committee. The requirements of ministries and independent institutions in the next general budget are directed to the Central Accounting Apparatus to take them into consideration.

References: Ali Al-Sawi, Developing The Parliamentary Performance, Democracy Promotion Group, PP. 56-57.

40b: In practice, the committee acts in a non-partisan manner with members of opposition parties serving on the committee in an equitable fashion.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The committee is comprised of legislators from both the ruling party (or parties) and opposition parties in a roughly equitable distribution. All members of the committee -- including opposition party members -- are able to fully participate in the activities of the committee and influence the committee\'s work to roughly the same extent as any other member of the committee. 50 Score Criteria: The committee is comprised of legislators from both the ruling party (or parties) and opposition parties although the ruling party has a disproportionate share of committee seats. The chairperson of the committee may be overly influential and curb other members\' ability to shape the committee's activities. 0 Score Criteria: The committee is dominated by legislators of the ruling party and/or the committee chairperson. Opposition legislators serving on the committee have in practice no way to influence the work of the committee.$

Comments: In practice, the Plan and Budget Committee in the legislature acts in a partisan manner with members of opposition parties serving on the committee. Most of the members of this committee are often from the ruling NDP party and acts in a purely partisan manner. It consists of the 20 members, who are the heads of other legislature committees, including the newly established Human Rights Committee. The Plan and Budget Committee is perhaps the only committee in the legislature that does not include independent members or members from opposition parties. After discussing the general budget, other legislature committees send reports to the Plan and Budget Committee to take into consideration. In all committees and the legislature as a whole, independent and opposition members do not act in a non-partisan manner. They are often more active and persistent than NDP members, but their views and opinions are often overlooked, not because they are independent or belong to the opposition, but because laws need to be approved just as presented by the government, without any modification.

References: Ali Al-Sawi, Developing The Parliamentary Performance, Democracy Promotion Group, PP. 56-57.

40c: In practice, this committee is protected from political interference.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: This committee operates independently of the political process, without incentive or pressure to render favorable judgments on politically sensitive issues. Investigations are rarely praised or criticized by political figures. 50 Score Criteria: This committee is usually independent but is sometimes influenced by negative or positive political incentives. This may include public praise or criticism by the government. 0 Score Criteria: This committee is commonly influenced by personal or political forces or incentives. This may include conflicting family relationships, professional partnerships, or other personal loyalties that ultimately influence the committee\'s behavior and decision-making. Negative incentives may include threats, harassment or other abuses of power by the government.$

Comments: In practice, the Plan and Budget Committee is not protected from political interference. Because it has members from the ruling NDP party, it is purely a partisan and governmental committee. Even the Central Accounting Apparatus that assists it is not protected from political interference, as it is subordinated to the president of the republic, who is, at the same time, the head of the executive branch.

References: Ali Al-Sawi, Developing The Parliamentary Performance, Democracy Promotion Group, PP. 56-57.

40d: In practice, when necessary, this committee initiates independent investigations into financial irregularities.

Score:

100

Comments: It is the Central Accounting Apparatus, not the Plan and Budget Committee in the legislature, that initiates independent investigations into financial irregularities. Central Accounting Apparatus must first obtain the consent of the president of the republic before initiating independent investigations into financial irregularities or taking any legal action. It prepares annual reports on the implementation of the budget and it delivers one to the legislature.

References: Democracy Promotion Group, Mechanisms and Obstacles of Parliamentary Performance, 1998, P. 20.