Government's commitment to boosting democratic process stressed

Manama, Dec. 7 (BNA): The government's commitment to implementing the legislative council's resolutions was stressed by Information and Parliament Affairs Minister Isa bin Abdulrahman Al-Hammadi at the post-cabinet press briefing. The minister emphasised the keenness of the executive branch to carry out decisions by the legislature in order to boost the democratic process according to the principle of "separation of powers". He said the Finance Ministry had submitted a memorandum highlighting the repercussions of implementing a law on the public debt cap which was approved in preparation for its referral to His Majesty the King. He added the memo includes a set of procedures pertaining to the government's expenditure within the framework of available budget. He noted that the general budget is based on well-defined revenues for the government, stressing that the deficit was due to an excess in expenditure. The minister explained that should the law be enforced, the expenditure cap will be determined by available revenues and the government's debt limit. He said in case the cap does not meet all the obligations, there will be a review of the budget and the expenditure which the government will be committed to. He added that the draft law was referred to the Financial and Legal Committees for further study. Concerning a change in sewerage taxes, Al-Hammadi assured that the service provided for citizens will remain unchanged and that there is a vision on changing the taxes only for the industrial and commercial sector. As for a memo on the activities of the logistic sector, the minister underlined the need to diversify the economy, pointing out the importance of the logistic sector in boosting the economy by creating more job opportunities and increasing the Gross National Product (GNP). Regarding the Charter of Press Ethics signed last week, Al-Hammadi said it was the outcome of a personal initiative by the editors-in-chief of local newspapers which was backed by the Information Ministry. He added that the charter defines criteria regulating the sector to enable the media staff to perform their duties more professionally and responsibly.