An amendment in the election process after the passage of the 18th Amendment Act of 2012 was required. According to documents obtained by the Business Recorder, the draft bill titled 'The Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012' has been vetted by the Law Ministry.
According to officials, the government incorporated some proposed reforms by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the draft. The Election Commission is pursuing the reforms agenda for making the election system more credible. The Commission awaits legislation on critical issues such as political financing and formulating an electoral Code of Conduct, the sources said.
The ECP proposed tripling the election campaign expenditures for prospective candidates in the upcoming elections: enhancing election campaign expenditures for provincial assembly candidates to Rs 3 million and for National Assembly candidates to Rs 5 million. At present, the election campaign expenditure limit is Rs 1 million for provincial assembly candidates and Rs 1.5 million for National Assembly candidates.
An ECP official said that the bill was aimed at facilitating candidates contesting elections from large constituencies. He said that this proposal was supported by almost all political parties. The official source said that the Commission also proposed amendments to enhance nomination fee from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000 for provincial candidate and from Rs 4,000 to Rs 20,000 for candidates of the National Assembly.
The ECP, he said, invited major political parties to discuss these proposals. Almost all political parties supported the ECP proposals and agreed to expedite key electoral reforms needed before general elections, including ensuring full participation of women voters as well as candidates.