Obama to curb lobbyists

United States President-elect Barack Obama is to introduce rules to restrict the role of lobbyists.



Transition chief John Podesta, said Obama plans to implement the strictest and most far reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history.



Both Obama and defeated candidate John McCain spoke out strongly against lobbyists during the election campaign.



Both have also accused lobbyists of peddling favours to sway Capitol Hill lawmakers in a culture of corruption.



Under the new measures, lobbyists will reportedly be prohibited from actively petitioning the federal government to work with the transition.



The guidelines will also prevent anyone who has acted as a lobbyist over the last 12 months from working on any policy area in the transition in which they had been active.