By Staff Writer
The 2021-2022 National Budget debate stumbled across a bad case of the stutters before it finally went through the vote in Parliament during the week just ended.
The debate was held up on numerous occasions while the Minister of Finance, Mulipola Ms. Anarosa Molioo, tried to page over in a rush the full budget document to look for items the members wanted explained.
At one point after a noticeable pause, opposition leader Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, wondered aloud if they should adjourn to give the Minister more time to go over the budget.
“We could always come back on Monday and continue with our budget debate, otherwise we could end up staying here all night,” he suggested.
Members were frustrated with their questions when told by the Speaker to hold off while the Minister hunts around for items still waiting for answers.
Cabinet Ministers tried to fill in during the uncomfortable pauses in the debate and at times giving the answers themselves so they could move along.
Tuilaepa led the chorus of opposition complaints that the frustrations of the stop start session could have been easily avoided, if the budget followed the normal process of being screened by a Parliamentary Finance Committee.
“The Chairman of the Finance Committee would have easily explained these items if this budget went through the normal screening process,” Tuilaepa argued.
The opposition leader worried at the longterm effects of not having the heads of Government ministries and corporations brought in to explain in details the various items for a better understanding.
This is standard practice for the passage of any national budget that once it is tabled by the Minister of Finance it is then referred for detailed review to the Finance Committee of the House.
Tuilaepa argued that CEOs and other senior staff in the service are the ones with the expert skills to explain and advice on the budget funding, so they have a key role to play in the preparation of the budget.
The Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa tried to defend the budget process bypassing the normal committee stage because of the absence of any opposition party in Parliament when it was tabled.
The House debated long into the evenings from Monday to Wednesday in a race to finish up by the end of the working week, shortened by the COVID -19 vaccination national run from Thursday to Friday.
The estimate for the new fiscal year finally limped to a vote of approval late into Wednesday night after a motion was carried earlier in the day for the House to work for as long as it takes to pass the budget.