The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday suspended 159 lawmakers from federal and provincial legislatures for failing to file their mandatory statements of assets and liabilities by the January 15 deadline, the electoral body said in a notification.
Under Section 137(3) of the Elections Act, 2017, legislators who do not submit their financial disclosures by January 15 automatically face suspension beginning January 16, and they cease to function as members of their respective assemblies until they comply.
The ECP’s suspension list includes 32 members of the National Assembly (MNAs) and nine Senators who missed the filing deadline. Parliamentarians affected include Syed Ali Musa Gilani, Abdul Qadir Gilani, Abdul Hakeem Baloch, Arshad Abdullah Vohra, Khali Maqbool Siddiqui and Saira Tarar from the lower house. Among the senators with suspended membership are Abid Sher Ali, Musadik Masood Malik, Murad Saeed and Noor-ul-Haq Qadri.
A large number of provincial legislators also lost their status for non-filing: 50 from the Punjab Assembly, 33 from the Sindh Assembly, 28 from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and seven from the Balochistan Assembly. This reflects widespread non-compliance with the asset disclosure requirement, despite earlier warnings from the ECP.
Among provincial figures with suspended membership are Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman Khan, Saeed Ghani, Jam Khan Shoro, Syed Awais Qadir Shah and Syed Qaim Ali Shah from Sindh, and Rana Sikandar Hayat, Amir Hayat Hiraj and Waqar Ahmad Cheema from the Punjab Assembly
In recent days the ECP had issued reminders that lawmakers across the National Assembly, Senate and provincial legislatures must submit their wealth statements by midnight of January 15 or face suspension. Those financial statements must cover assets and liabilities of the member, their spouse and dependent children, and relate to the previous fiscal year.
Suspended legislators are barred from participating in legislative work or exercising parliamentary functions until they file their statements of assets and liabilities and have their membership restored, the ECP said.
