ISLAMABAD, Jan 17 (FD): Pakistan’s top electoral watchdog has suspended the membership of 271 lawmakers for not submitting the details of their assets.
Reports in local media suggest that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has suspended the membership of 136 Members of the National Assembly (MNA), 21 senators, and 114 lawmakers of provincial assemblies.
Prime Minister’s close aides including Ahsan Iqbal and Khawaja Asif, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Mufti Abdul Shakoor, and Sajid Turi, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Noor Alam Khan and MQM-P convener Khalid Maqbool are among the parliamentarians suspended for not submitting the statement of assets and liabilities.
PTI leader Shaukat Tarin, Rana Mahmood UI Hassan, Azam Khan Swati, and Sania Nishtar were among the senators, who were suspended under the latest action by ECP.
As part of an annual exercise, the commission has directed the lawmakers to submit the details of their assets by January 16 and warned of suspending their membership for failing to comply with the orders.
Meanwhile, ECP has sent the lists of the suspended MPs and senators to the respective Speakers of the Houses to ensure these members not participate in parliamentary proceedings.
Election Commission seeks asset details under Section 42A of the Representation of the People’s Act, 1976, and Section 25A of the Senate (Elections) Act, 1975.
