MPs Pass Three-Month Rule for Council Final Accounts

TDT | Manama

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Parliament on Tuesday passed a draft law extending the deadline for preparing the Council of Representatives’ audited final accounts from 30 days to three months, approving the measure without any debate.

The change amends Article 219 of Decree-Law 54 of 2002 on the Council’s Rules of Procedure. Under the new wording, the General Secretariat will prepare the Council’s final account and submit it, audited, to the Speaker within three months of the end of the financial year. The Speaker will refer it to the Bureau of the Council for review before it is presented to the chamber for discussion and approval. The Bureau may also refer the final account to the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee to study it and submit a report to the Council at the next session.

Parliamentary committee papers said the longer window is meant to give the General Secretariat more time to prepare the final account and audited statements and to allow the National Audit Office to complete its audit within the set period. The Financial and Economic Affairs Committee said it expected no specific negative financial impact from the amendment, adding that the extra time should help the Council’s finance-related departments perform their work more effectively.

In its memorandum attached to the draft law, the government agreed with the change. It said the amendment fits the constitutional and legal framework governing each chamber’s internal rules and budgeting arrangements, and noted that public finance rules already give many state bodies three months after year-end to provide audited annual statements.

The government also pointed to a 2023 amendment to the Shura Council’s Rules of Procedure that introduced a similar three-month period for preparing its audited final account, arguing that the new rule for the Council of Representatives brings the two chambers into line.