ISLAMABAD: With the deadline set by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for lawmakers to submit declarations on dual nationality expiring on Friday, the ECP is set to decide next week the fate of those who did not submit the required documents.

According to sources, particulars of the lawmakers who have not filed the documents affirming they don’t have dual nationality will be placed before the ECP next week for a decision on their fate.

A total of 16 lawmakers did not file the declarations, the sources said.

Among them are seven lawmakers of MQM, five of PPP, two of PML-N, one of JUI-F and one independent member.

The members of parliament who did not file the affidavits are MNAs Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi, Syed Tayyab Hussain, Dr Nadeem Ehsan, Mrs Fauzia Ejaz Khan (MQM), Syed Allauddin and Chaudhry Tasadduq Masud Khan (PPP), Sabeen Rizvi and Araish Kumar (PML-N), Maulana Muhammad Qasim (JUI-F) and Senator Malik Salahuddin Dogar. MPAs Murad Ali Shah, Sadiq Ali Memon (PPP), Abdul Moid Siddiqui, Askari Taqvi and Muhammad Raza Haroon (MQM) and Javaid Iqbal Tarkai (independent) also did not file the declarations.

Although the ECP had yet to reveal what action it would take against those who did not file the required papers, an official of the commission said that notices were likely to be served on them before proceeding further on the matter.

It was an established principle that nobody should be condemned unheard, he said and added that the process would not only lead to de-notification of the lawmakers but also initiation of criminal proceedings against them.

He said the disqualification reference against 43 members of the Punjab Assembly for allegedly possessing dual nationality would come up for hearing at the meeting next week.