ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday suspended the memberships of 159 lawmakers across various legislative bodies for their failure to submit mandatory annual statements of assets and liabilities by the January 15 deadline.
These members are barred from participating in any legislative proceedings until they fulfill the legal requirement and their membership is formally restored.
According to a notification issued by the ECP, the membership of 32 MNAs, 50 Punjab Assembly members, 33 Sindh Assembly lawmakers, 28 Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly members, seven Balochistan Assembly members and nine senators have been suspended.
According to the ECP, Sindh Assembly Speaker Syed Awais Qadir Shah, Federal Education Minister and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Chairman Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) leaders Syed Ali Musa Gilani and Syed Abdul Qadir Gilani, and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Saira Tarar are among those whose membership has been suspended.
ECP suspends membership of nine senators
Similarly, the election watchdog also suspended the membership of nine Senators, including Federal Minister for Climate Change Dr Musadik Malik, PML-N’s Abid Sher Ali and Murad Saeed of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
The Punjab Assembly members whose membership has been suspended include Rana Sikandar Hayat, Adnan Dogar, and Aamir Hayat Hiraj.
Similarly, 33 members of the Sindh Assembly were suspended, including Speaker Syed Awais Qadir Shah, former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, and provincial minister Saeed Ghani.
Moreover, the Election Commission suspended the memberships of 28 lawmakers from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and seven from the Balochistan Assembly.
All MNAs, Senators and provincial assemblies’ members are required to submit complete details of their assets and liabilities to the Election Commission by December 31 each year. They must also file the financial statements of their spouse and dependent children on Form-B by June 30 annually.
Failure to submit these details results in suspension of the member’s membership until the statement is filed. During the suspension period, members will be barred from attending sessions and taking part in legislative business, including voting on motions of confidence.
