MPs support BD100,000 legal check on government contracts

TDT | Manama

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A proposed requirement for all government contracts worth more than BD100,000 to be reviewed by the Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission has secured MPs’ backing, after Parliament approved a draft law on Tuesday despite objections from the government and the Shura Council.

The bill amends Article 2 of Law No 60 of 2006, cutting the review threshold from BD300,000 to BD100,000.

Second Deputy Speaker Ahmed Qarata told the chamber that the current rule has been in place since 2010 and said the Commission now examines around 450 contracts a year.

Criteria

He argued that the criteria should be adjusted to match the volume of work and the level of legal review expected.

Under the draft, the Commission must examine all acts and contracts concluded by ministries, institutions, public authorities and entities covered by the Law on the Regulation of Government Tenders, Bids, Purchases and Sales whenever their value exceeds BD100,000, and no such contract may be signed without its prior legal opinion.

MP Mohammed Al Rifai described the change as one of Parliament’s efforts to strengthen checks on public funds, noting that the Tenders Board already reviews private tenders from BD50,000 and government tenders from BD25,000.

Problem

“If checks begin at 25,000 and 50,000 dinars,” he asked, “where is the problem in reviewing contracts from 100,000 dinars upwards?”

According to the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee, the aim is to widen legal oversight of major government contracts and bring firmer control over public spending, in line with the Fiscal Balance Programme’s call for administrative acts and contracts to be examined from a legal angle.

The second article of the bill is executive in nature, requiring the Prime Minister and ministers to apply the law from the day after its publication in the Official Gazette.