Estonian auditor general: Constitutional institutions' budgets should be managed by parlt

Auditor General Janar Holm. Photo: Mihkel Maripuu

At a sitting of the the state budget control select committee of the Estonian parliament on Tuesday, Auditor General Janar Holm said in light of the recent presidential office funding issue, that the budget of constitutional institutions should be transferred from the executive's jurisdiction to the parliament to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

Last week, Postimees reported that in May, the head of the president`s office, Peep Jahilo, approached the finance minister, requesting an additional 360,000 euros from the government`s reserve. This was followed by conversations and phone calls, during which there were alleged attempts to link the presidential office`s funding request with the promulgation of bills adopted by the parliament at the same time. The specifics and occurrences of this situation were discussed at the select committee meeting on Tuesday.

The auditor general said that, in his view, the current case brings up a previously raised question -- can the funding of independent constitutional institutions depend on the executive branch?

«I think it`s not appropriate. This sentiment is shared and has been shared also by the heads of other constitutional institutions,» Holm emphasized. «We have sat down with the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the chancellor of justice, directors from the parliament`s and president`s offices, and have developed suggestions, and in our opinion, this is how it should be resolved,» he added.

«I`ll also provide an example from the National Audit Office. It oversees the Finance Ministry, but the law mandates that we have to request funding every year. When an auditor has to ask the audited entity for money annually, in a typical scenario, this could be termed as a corrupt situation. In Estonia, this is how it is provided by the law,» Holm pointed out.

From the auditor general`s perspective, the decision-making power over these institutions' budgets should therefore be transferred to the parliament.

«This won`t resolve the specific dispute at hand, but it could be a long-term view on how to address such situations,» he added.