Barrak slams SAB chief

MP Musallam Al-Barrak yesterday voiced astonishment at the what he said were the attempts of the State Audit Bureau chairman Abdulaziz Al-Adsani to circumvent a recent court decision restoring the former Assistant Undersecretary of the SAB's Administrative Department, Abdulaziz Al-Yahya, to his previous position by transferring him to another department Accusing the SAB chief of exploiting the system, which he said was the first example of this sort of behavior at the bureau, Al-Barrak claimed that Al-Yahya was the victim of the bureau head's political gamesmanship, further asserting that Al-Yahya is known for his integrity and honesty regardless of what these qualities might cost him. The MP hinted that Al-Adsani is fearful of returning the subordinate official to his former position, suggesting that if Al-Yahya were to review the department's records for the past two years he might find that irregularities had taken place there during his absence. Speaking to reporters, Al-Barrak asserted that the SAB head had subsequently instituted a policy of rotating Assistant Undersecretaries between departments, for the first time in the bureau's history, solely in order to prevent Al-Yahya from returning to head the department which he was previously in charge of, despite the court ruling which ordered that Al-Yahya should return to th Addressing a question to Al-Adsani, the MP enquired whether it wasn't enough for the SAB chief that 14 judges and legal consultants had supported Al-Yahya's petition to return to his post, and asking pointedly if Al-Adsani were afraid of what the subordinate official might discover if he were to return to his previous position.