Daily Times

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

The cabinet also decided to amend the “draconian” NAB law, according to the state media. The cabinet rejected immediate elections without electoral reforms and expressed its support for tough decisions to improve the country’s economic situation. 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 millions of dollars to the exchequer. The note would be printed locally.

The state media said 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 representatives from legal, banking, bureaucracy and other sectors.

The cabinet was of the view that the NAB’s law had been used for political victimization and to intimidate government officers and business community due to which the bureaucracy felt frightened while making decisions.

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 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 Rs52 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. The commerce ministry briefed the federal cabinet on the detailed analysis on exports, imports and balance of payment.

It was told that export volume during fiscal 2021-22 was $31.2 billion and the import stood at $76.7 billion. During the said period, exports increased by $4.95 billion and imports by $11.16 billion. The cabinet members were told that in order to increase the exports, it was essential to provide gas and electricity at the competitive rate at par with the other countries in the region. Moreover, the efforts should be made for early revival of the business activities hit by the Covid-19 pandemic besides extending facilities to investors and business community. Apprising the cabinet of the factors behind increase in imports, the commerce ministry told that the price hike of energy led to the import bill. The import of Covid vaccine, wheat, sugar, cotton, steel and fertilizer and appreciation of the dollar also led to the import bill.