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Everyone who participated in the drafting of the Public Procurement Law is proud that what the Lebanese Parliament has done in this context is an achievement that goes back to history and a qualitative introduction to the development of reform laws, especially since the legislator was able to extract the law’s appointments mechanism (the Public Procurement Authority and the Objections Authority), from the snares of political quotas. To the glory of efficiency and merit as a matter of good application and safety of the law, even if the final word remains for the political authority represented by the Council of Ministers... That is why many international institutions welcomed the law and commended the efforts of those who worked on it as it constitutes a reform model that should be emulated.
Shocked those concerned after the appeal submitted by ten deputies from the “Strong Lebanon Bloc” specifically targeted the appointments mechanism approved in the law, even though this mechanism is the best reached by the project within the framework of immunizing the law and its supervisors. What are the dimensions of this appeal, which addressed articles 72, 78, 88, 89, and 91? What are his legal backgrounds? And what does it mean to invalidate it if that happened?
The head of the Tenders Department, Jean Al-Aliyah, indicates that he encourages resorting to the Constitutional Council, based on the logic of the rule of law and institutions, pointing out that the most important things that can be recorded in this appeal are summarized as follows:
Article 72 related to specialization and capacity-building: Specialization and capacity-building is an essential pillar of the Public Procurement Law. their acquaintances. Consequently, the challenge affected training and the development of competencies and skills, which is an essential element not only for implementing the public procurement law, but for building a modern, contemporary and transparent administration.
Article 78, which stipulates the appointment of the head and members of the Public Procurement Authority through a list prepared by the head of the National Anti-Corruption Authority, the head of the Audit Bureau, the head of the Civil Service Council, and the head of the Central Inspection. Without this mechanism, which is more like a guarantee, we will be in front of a regulatory body based on quotas considerations, and it will end up disrupting the law and thus tampering with public procurement and subjecting it to political whims.
- Article 88, where the appeal deals with the transfer of the tender administration to the Public Procurement Authority after the expansion of its owners and powers, and therefore the appeal against the mechanisms of transition is a challenge to the heart of the law as it is not applicable without an administrative structure concerned with its application and supervision of procurement, its organization and control, and therefore the appeal with this transition targets the role that This body is carried out regardless of any location, and if the appeal targets any of those in the Public Procurement Authority, it will be a precedent that has not occurred before, since the legal process in Lebanon has witnessed many models for the transformation of public administrations, councils, or even ministries into administrations or councils Or ministries with other names and other tasks, and the transformation process did not witness any dismissals or dismissals of employees, and if the appeal targets this point, it will be directed in a personal way, while the law is higher than people and the constitution is the reference that guarantees and protects the rights of individuals and guarantees equality between them.
- Article 89 related to the establishment of the objections body, which is one of the main pillars to ensure the success of the public procurement law, and is based on a modern method adopted in most countries of the world on the basis of relieving the burden of the judiciary and trying to resolve disputes by alternative methods, and if these alternative methods do not succeed, litigants go to court and these The mechanism introduced by the legislator in the public procurement law constitutes a kind of guarantee, stability and confidence for the local and foreign investor that the law will be applied, and in the event of disputes they will be resolved quickly. . This challenge to this independent body, which enjoys full functional independence, in the manner of appointing its members, similar to the method of appointing members of the Public Procurement Authority, targets the reformist aspect of the law and the reform mechanisms adopted to ensure competition and transparency.
Article 91 related to the mechanism for appointing members of the objections body, which is an appeal similar to the appeal in Article 78, meaning that it targets the mechanism based on efficiency and merit criteria, and thus makes the law a prisoner of appointments made by the Council of Ministers outside the criteria of efficiency and merit, and this is a matter that has serious repercussions on the public administration. It is true that the appointment of employees of the first category is carried out by the Council of Ministers, but this appointment, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, is carried out by the Council of Ministers, in compliance with the laws, including Article 20 of the Constitution, which affirms the right of citizens to assume public office on the basis of merit and competence, and Article 99 of the Constitution, which states that Temporary The jobs of the first category shall be distributed equally between Muslims and Christians, provided that considerations of competence and merit are adhered to. |
