ISLAMABAD: Of the 1,165 lawmakers in the country, over 900 — including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and a number of senior cabinet ministers — have yet to file the mandatory statement of assets for themselves, their spouses and dependents.

Members of the Senate, National Assembly and provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtu­nkhwa and Balochistan are required to submit yearly statements of assets and liabilities to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by Sept 30 each year.

Also read: ECP directs lawmakers to file statements of assets

This is a mandatory requirement under Section 42A of the Representation of the People Act, 1976, and Section 25-A of the Senate (Elections) Act, 1975.

The ECP, under the law, is supposed to notify the names of the members who fail to file their statements of assets by the specified deadline, by Oct 15.

ECP issues final reminder to legislators to submit their statements by Sept 30

Sources in the ECP told Dawn that only 207 legislators had submitted their statements of assets and liabilities so far. While the total number of lawmakers is 1,174, nine seats are currently vacant.

The sources said that those who had already filed statements included 62 members of the National Assembly, 30 Senators, 61 members of the Punjab Assembly, 33 members of the Sindh Assembly, 10 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and 11 members of the Balochistan Assembly.

Apart from the prime minister and a number of his cabinet colleagues, some chief ministers and members of the provincial cabinets as well as top politicians are among those who have not filed their statements.

On Thursday, the ECP issued a final reminder to members to file their statements of assets and liabilities by Sept 30, giving them just three days after the Eid holidays to do so.

Though the law clearly specifies Sept 30 as the last date for filing of statements and Oct 15 as the last date for notifying the names of those who failed to do so, the ECP has been doling out favours by giving lawmakers an undeclared grace period of 15 days and accepting back-dated statements.

The law requires the lawmakers to file the statements of assets and liabilities of their spouses and dependents as well, but a majority of them ignores the requirement and most of the members prefer to file only their own statements of assets.

An ECP official said the commission would notify the names of members who failed to file their statements within the specified period by Oct 15 and these legislators would cease to function until all legal formalities were met.

He said that action would also be taken against lawmakers who submit inaccurate statements in accordance with Section 82 of the Representation of People Act.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2015

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