Hypotheses Whereby “Supplementary Finance Law” Would Be Passed Without Parliament Due To Corona Virus

Parliamentarians from the National People’s Assembly and the Council of the Nation do not rule out the passing of the supplementary finance bill for the year 2020 without submitting it to Parliament as it could be signed by the President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune and issued by presidential order, in light of the pervasive epidemic in the country and the temporary closure of Parliament amid assumptions that matters might get worse, especially after the Minister of Health, Population and Hospital Reform announced that Algeria has entered the third stage of the Covid 19 epidemic.

Member of the National Assembly, Senator Abdelwahab Benzaim, explained that for the supplementary finance bill if it is impossible to pass it through Parliament, Article 142 of the constitution allows the President of the Republic to initiate orders on urgent matters in the event of a vacancy in the National People’s Assembly or during parliamentary holidays, after receiving the opinion of the State Council on the matter.

According to Mr. Benzaim, the president of the republic submits the texts to be conveyed to each chamber of parliament in the first session for approval, and orders that are not approved by parliament will be canceled.

And the President of the Republic can legislate by orders in the exceptional case mentioned in Article 107 of the Constitution, and orders are initiated in the Cabinet, adding, that “Passing the supplementary finance law without presenting it to Parliament is allowed in such circumstances if the corona virus epidemic continues and the state structures remain closed, including the parliament building”.

On the other hand, a member of the Finance and Budget Commission of the National People’s Assembly, Ammar Moussa, assured to “Echorouk” that passing the supplementary finance bill without submitting it to the two chambers of parliament will be possible in one case, notably if the President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune declares a state of emergency in the country, but such an exceptional contingency is excluded today and premature, he added.

“Even if the doors of Parliament are closed today to prevent the spread of the Corona virus, this does not prevent the presentation of the supplementary draft law to the Assembly’s Finance Commission by taking precautionary measures to decide on it and give its opinion on this law”.

Mr. Ammar Moussa stressed that adopting the supplementary finance law through a presidential order will be the last option if the health situation continues as it is, with the epidemic becoming more aggravated and a sanitary state of emergency being declared by the higher authorities.

He also indicated that the biggest challenge facing the government today is not how to pass the supplementary finance law, but rather what will be included in this law, especially since the barrel of oil today is as low as 22 dollars far less than the reference price specified in the finance law for the year 2020.

It should be noted that the government had previously chosen to resort to a supplementary financial law for the year 2020 to address the imbalances previously included in the annual finance law, by notably imposing indirect taxes on the citizens and without explicitly advertising the move, and also included many points that were controversial, especially as this piece of legislation was prepared, drafted and signed in the laboratories of the previous government.