Cabinet rejects fresh elections, decides to amend NAB law

The federal cabinet on Tuesday rejected the possibility of holding fresh election immediately, saying mandatory electoral reforms must be carried out before the elections, SAMAA TV reported.

The cabinet has also decided to amend the “draconian” NAB law, according to state media.

SAMAA TV’s Usman Khan reported that the cabinet has rejected immediate elections without electoral reforms and expressed its support for tough decisions to improve economic situation in the country.

The federal cabinet rejected a State Bank of Pakistan summary for getting commemorative currency note on Pakistan’s 75th anniversary printed from a foreign firm as the move was to cost million of dollars to the exchequer. The note would be printed locally.

The state media said that the cabinet constituted a committee, under the federal law minister, to amend the “draconian law” of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to do away with political victimization.

The committee would comprise the representatives from legal, banking, bureaucracy and other sectors.

The cabinet members were of the view that the NAB’s “draconian law” had been used for political victimization and to intimidate the government officers and the business community and due to the very reasons, the bureaucracy felt frightened while making the decisions, making the country suffer in critical matters.

In view of the heatwave across the country, the cabinet also formed a special task force under the ministry of climate change on the subject.

The task force would take measures to do away with the impacts of the climate change to protect the country from the future hazards.

A report on the review of Civil Servants (Directory Retirement from Service) Rule 2020 was also presented to the cabinet. It was told that the said rules consisted of the regulations which already part of the Government Servant (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules 2020.

The cabinet members viewed that the said rules were used to pressurize the government officers which had no legal justification as overriding laws could not be made.

Approving the committee’s recommendations, the federal cabinet annulled the Civil Servants (Directory Retirement from Service) Rules 2020, and also approved the withdrawal of proceedings against the government officers under the said rules.

The federal cabinet also endorsed the decisions made by the Economic Coordination Committee in its meeting held on May 16, 2022. The ECC had allocated Rs 52 billion for the petroleum division for the payment of claims of the oil marketing companies and refineries regarding the price differentials which would be valid for 15 days starting May 16.

The Committee had also approved the import of 200,000 metric tons of urea on government to government basis by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan for the Kharif season.