ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday suspended membership of 318 lawmakers over failure to submit their annual statements of assets and liabilities by January 15.

According to sources, those suspended include 70 members of the National Assembly, 12 senators, 115 members of the Punjab Assembly, 40 members of the Sindh Assembly, 60 members of the Khyber Pakhtun­khwa Assembly and 21 members of the Balochistan Assembly. The 70 defaulting members of the National Assembly include Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, Housing Minister Chaudhry Tariq Basheer Cheema, Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri, Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul and former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.

Others prominent on the list include former federal minister for national health services Aamer Mehmood Kayani, Amir Liaquat Huss­ain, Farrukh Habib, Raja Riaz, Chaudhry Birjees Tahir, Sardar Muhammad Bakhsh Mahar, Jehangir Alam Khan and Abdul Qadir Patel.

The 12 senators on the list include Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem, former KP chief minister Pir Sabir Shah, NP leader Mir Hasil Bizenjo and former special assistant to the prime minister Musadik Malik. The membership of Senators Rana Mehmood-ul-Hasan, Hafiz Abdul Karim, Najma Hameed, Zeeshan Khanzada, Muhammad Ayub, Fida Muham­mad and Taj Muhammad Afridi has also been suspended.

The 115 defaulting members of the Punjab Assembly include Minister for Population Welfare Muhammad Hashim Dogar, head of the chief minister’s inspection team Muhammad Shoaib Idrees and former provincial minister Khush Akhtar Subhani.

The 40 members of the Sindh Assembly suspended for their failure to meet the legal requirement include Information Minis­ter Saeed Ghani, Irrigation Minister Sohail Anwar, Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Syeda Shehla Raza, federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordina­tion Dr Fehmida Mirza’s son Hasnain Ali Mirza and former provincial ministers Mir Nadir Ali Magsi and Sharjeel Inam Memon.

The 60 members of the KP Assembly to have been suspended include Information Minister Shoukat Ali, Faisal Zaman, Arbab Muhammad Waseem Khan, Arbab Jehandad Khan, Shafiq Afridi, Bilawal Afridi and Hafiz Isamuddin.

The 21 members of the Balochistan Assembly suspended for failing to file statements of assets include Noorullah, Masood Ali Khan, Noor Muhammad, Mir Sikandar Ali, Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, Abdul Wahid Siddiqui, Syed Fazal Agha, Zamarak, Asghar Khan, Malik Naeem Khan Bazai, Mir Naimatullah Zehri, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, Zabid Ali, Sanaullah Baloch, Syed Ehsan Shah, Abdul Rasheed, Mir Akbar Askani, Bano, Zeenat Shahwani, Fareeda Bibi and Sham Lal.

Under Section 137 of the Elections Act, the lawmakers will remain suspended until they file their statements of assets.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2020