MP Ahmed Qarata participates in Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union financial audit initiative

Manama, Jan. 6 (BNA): MP Ahmed Abdulwahid Qarata, Second Deputy Speaker of the Council of Representatives, member of the Executive Committee of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU), and Chairman of the assigned Financial Committee, is participating in the preparation of a procedures manual for audit, financial oversight, and the selection of the Union’s external legal auditor. The initiative aims to enhance supervisory performance, reduce expenditures, and improve the investment of revenues of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The participation, to be held at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union in Beirut, comes pursuant to a mandate issued by the Union’s Executive Committee during its 40th meeting, which was held in Cairo, on December 15–16.

The programme is scheduled to include a meeting with Brahim Boughali, President of the AIPU, as well as bilateral meetings with the representatives of the Parliament of the State of Libya and the Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. The meetings will discuss the exemption requests submitted by both parliaments, in addition to reviewing and approving the Union’s financial audit and oversight procedures manual, appointing an internal auditor, and appointing an external auditor.

The participation will also include official interviews with financial firms in order to select the most suitable company in accordance with legal standards.

The Executive Committee of the AIPU had tasked the temporary Financial Committee, chaired by MP Ahmed Abdulwahid Qarata, with re-examining the exemption requests submitted by the State of Libya and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, reviewing all proposals submitted to the Union’s General Secretariat by certified auditors, and selecting the legal auditor to audit the Union’s accounts for the year 2026.

The committee was also tasked with developing a proposal for the distribution of financial obligations among member parliaments, based on projected increases and inflation rates for the coming years. In addition, it was assigned to study the draft annual budget for 2027, clarify its justifications and areas of expenditure, determine the share of each parliamentary division, and survey the views of Arab councils and parliaments in this regard, with the committee to submit a report on the outcomes to the Executive Committee.