(ANSAmed) - MADRID, MARCH 23 - Public administrators who falsify
or hide data on the deficit and figures regarding the wages of
directors of local governments will be disqualified from holding
public offices for ten years. The measure is part of a bill for
more transparency and access to public information which was
approved in today's cabinet meeting. It was presented in the
press conference that followed the meeting, by Vice Premier
Soraya Sanz de Santamaria. The vice premier called it one of the
most important regulations in the political programme of the
Mariano Rajoy government.
The government bill includes a code of good governance with
sanctions in case of violations. It forces politicians and
public managers to inform taxpayers about the use of their
money, following a similar initiative taken in the United States
and in other European countries. Politicians and managers in the
public sector can be suspended for hiding bills or accounts, for
not handing over requested documentation, for surpassing the
public deficit limit and for wasting tax money, which will be
seen as a crime.
Public administrations must be transparent about the way they
spend public money. The government will open an internet portal
for transparency, on which subsidies, data regarding public
tenders and the salaries of public sector managers will be
published. The portal is scheduled to be ready by this summer,
when the bill is expected to have completed its examination in
parliament. As soon as the regulation comes into force, public
officials must respond to any request by citizens for
information about the management of public funds within one
month. (ANSAmed)
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