ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) suspended membership of total of 271 lawmakers due to their failure to submit details of their assets and liabilities.

According to details, ECP suspended membership of lawmakers after they failed to submit mandatory statement of their assets and liabilities that is required to be filed at year-end. Parliamentarians suspended by ECP include 136 members of National Assembly, 21 from Senate, 54 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, 48 from Sindh Assembly and 12 from Balochistan Assembly. As per notification, suspended members include Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Asif and Mohsin Ranjha and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.

ECP has forwarded lists of members to respective speakers of houses, asking them to ensure listed members stop working.

ECP said that lawmakers cannot participate in parliamentary proceedings and their membership will remain suspended until they submit their respective statements.

ECP seeks asset details under Section 42A of Representation of People’s Act, 1976 and Section 25A of Senate (Elections) Act, 1975. Earlier in January, ECP had given deadline to parliamentarians for submitting details of their assets by January 15.

ECP released list of parliamentarians from lower and upper houses, as well as from provincial assemblies who failed to submit asset details. Commission stated in notification that some lawmakers did not submit their statements of assets despite expiry of December 31 deadline. It had asked lawmakers to submit details of their assets to ECP by January 15, otherwise, their membership will be suspended on January 16.

Published in The Daily National Courier, January, 17 2023

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