• Asset declaration deadline was extended to Dec 31, 2025 under Elections Act 2017
• 446 lawmakers fail to submit statements by end of year

ISLAMABAD: Dozens of lawmakers are set to be suspended for failing to comply with the asset-declaration requirement under a lenient law they framed by themselves.

Under the previous legal framework, members of the Senate and the National and provincial assemblies were required to submit annual statements of assets and liabilities to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by Sept 30. The Elections Act, 2017, extended the deadline to Dec 31, with a two-week grace period.

Section 137 of the Elections Act, 2017, dealing with submission of statement of assets and liabilities, reads: “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.”

The Election Commission, through a press release issued on the first day of January each year, “shall publish the names of members who failed to submit the requisite statement of assets and liabilities within the period specified under subsection (1)”, it adds.

Moreover, the ECP “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”.

The section further notes that 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 446 lawmakers, including federal and provincial ministers and senior political leaders, failed to submit their statements by Dec 31, six months after the close of the financial year. However, under the law, the default would have no consequence for those who manage to file the statements by Jan 15.

The ECP issued what it called a final warning to defaulters, saying its offices would remain open until midnight to receive the declarations. Under the law, those who fail to submit the statements by Jan 15 are to be suspended on Jan 16, and their membership is restored once they file the required documents.

Often, membership of such lawmakers is restored while they enjoy a cup of tea with some officer of the Election Commission.

Last year, the ECP suspended 139 lawmakers on Jan 16, 2025, after they failed to submit their annual statements of assets and liabilities. A total of 518 members of parliament and the four provincial assemblies had not filed the statements by Dec 31, 2024.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2026