KABUL - MPs on Monday said a recent decision by President Ashraf Ghani to transfer ministerial budgets, earmarked for construction, to the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MoUDH) was unlawful.
“If government had such a plan, then why did it not propose it to parliament in the draft budget,” said MP Azim Mohseni.
Ghani recently issued the order to take the budgets away from 30 departments and give them instead to MoUDH to oversee.
MPs however said lawmakers will not endorse such an order and slammed the move as unlawful. 
On Monday, parliament summoned the minister of economy Abdul Sattar Murad, deputy minister of finance Shafiq Ahmad Qarizada and minister of urban development and housing Sayed Saadat Mansour Naderi to respond to questions by MPs regarding the president’s order. 
“The move is aimed to improve management of construction and for the sake of unity,” said Murad.
“When projects were put out to tender, they were not followed up on and no one was held accountable,” said minister of housing Mansour Naderi.
“Based on Article 2 of the financial and public finance management Act the ministry of finance has the authority to seek amendments to the law,” said deputy minister of finance Shafiq Ahmad Qarizada.
But, MPs argued that Ghani had violated the law by issuing such an order.
“The decision contradicts article 90 and article 40 of the constitution and we reject it; if government has such a plan, it should merge it in the draft budget for 1397 (2018),” parliament’s first deputy speaker Nazir Ahmad Hanafi said.
Naderi meanwhile said that at least 23 government institutions have already sent through construction project plans for them to work on. (Tolonews)