ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday suspended the membership of 139 lawmakers after they failed to submit their annual statements of assets.
Those suspended include two Senators from Balochistan, Muhammad Qasim of BNP and Abdul Quddus of PPP.
Other lawmakers include 16 members of the National Assembly, 68 of the Punjab Assembly, 33 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, 15 of the Sindh Assembly and five of Balochistan Assembly.
The suspended lawmakers have been barred from attending the respective legislature’s proceedings. Their suspension will last till they comply with the legal requirement of submitting their annual statements of assets. The name of Sardar Akhtar Mengal, who resigned months ago, is also in the list of suspended MNAs.
Some prominent lawmakers who have been suspended are: Ali Qasim Gilani, son of Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani; PML-Q leader and former federal minister Tariq Bashir Chaudhry, Chaudhry Farrukh Altaf, retired Maj Tahir Iqbal, Miqdad Ali Khan, Mehboob Sultan and Mudassir Sehar Kamran. Section 137 of the Elections Act, 2017, deals with submission of statement of assets and liabilities reads as under:
Move triggered by their failure to submit annual statements of assets
“(1) Every Member of an Assembly and Senate shall submit to the Commission, on or before 31st December each year, a copy of his statement of assets and liabilities including assets and liabilities of his spouse and dependent children as on the preceding thirtieth day of June on Form B.
“(2) The Commission, on the first day of January each year. through a press release, shall publish the names of members who failed to submit the requisite statement of assets and liabilities within the period specified under subsection (1).
“(3) The Commission shall, on the sixteenth day of January, by an order suspend the membership of a Member of an Assembly and Senate who fails to submit the statement of assets and liabilities by the fifteenth day of January and such Member shall cease to function till he files the statement of assets and liabilities.
“(4) Where a Member submits the statement of assets and liabilities under this section which is found to be false in material particulars, he may, within one hundred and twenty days from the date submission of the statement, be proceeded against for committing the offence of corrupt practice.
As many as 518 members of the parliament and four provincial assemblies had failed to file their statements of assets by Dec 31, the legal deadline. But the since the amended law provides a grace period of 15 days, the notification of suspension is issued on Jan 16.
Five suspended lawmakers of Balochistan Assembly are Abdul Majeed Badini, PB-16, Jaffarabad; Dr Malik Baloch, PB-26, Kech-II; Zafarullah Khan Zehri, PB-35, Surab; Ubaidullah Gorgage, PB-44, Quetta-VII; and Safia, who was elected on reserved seat for women.
Saleem Shahid in Quetta also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2025
