Speaker Refuses MPs' Demand to Question Ministers

01-Jul-09

Speaker Refuses MPs' Demand to Question Ministers

01-Jul-09

Wednesday, 1 July, 2009
IWPR

IWPR

Institute for War & Peace Reporting

The speaker of parliament rejected demands by a number of deputies to question two ministers accused of corruption and mismanagement, according to a June 24 article in the news website all4Syria.



The speaker, Mahmoud al-Abrash, refused the demand because he did not want to “upset” the prime minister, Mohammad Naji al-Otari, the website wrote, quoting unnamed sources.



Al-Abrash did not even include the demand to question ministers in the parliament’s official registers, it said.



Syrian media reported earlier that a group of parliamentarians asked to question the minister of labour and social affairs, Diala Al-Haj, and the information minister,

Dr Muhsen Bilal.



"It's our right to ask about the corruption… and the poor record of the ministry of labour and social affairs," one of the parliamentarians who asked for the questioning, Feras Sallom, told the website.



Another legislator, Wael Mulhem, interviewed by the website, said that he would not give up his right of questioning the ministry of information about its “weak performance."



The article said that employees in both ministries helped the politicians build a case against the two top officials by providing them with useful documents.
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