Federal Cabinet approves Electoral Reforms Bill 2012

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet on Wednesday gave a go ahead to Electoral Reforms Bill-2012 besides three other bills during its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.

The three more bills that were okayed by the Cabinet include Land Serving and Mapping (Reforms) Bill 2012, Juvenile Justice System (Reforms) Bill 2012 and Foreign Exchange Regulations (Reforms) Act 1947.

According to sources, the Electoral Reforms Bill 2012 which also contains the Code of Conduct for elections, bans canvassing by the President, caretaker prime minister and governors during official tours. In addition to this, no one will be allowed to criticize the army as well as other constitutional institutions.

The bill also contains a proposal seeking to increase the limit for election campaign expenditures from Rs1.5 million to Rs 5 million for a National Assembly candidate and from Rs1 million to Rs3 million for a candidate of provincial assembly.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly's Standing on Law and Justice has granted approval to National Accountability Commission Bill.