Islamabad: Over their failure to submit details of their assets and liabilities, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Monday suspended the membership of as many as 271 lawmakers.
The parliamentarians suspended by the ECP include 136 members of the National Assembly, 21 of the Senate, 54 from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, 48 from the Sindh Assembly, and 12 from the Balochistan Assembly.
The lawmakers were required to submit copies of their financial statements up to June 30, 2022, by January 16, 2023.
The number is extraordinarily higher this year due to the resignation of the PTI lawmakers from the National Assembly.
As opposed to 35 MNAs and three senators who had failed to submit their statement of assets to the ECP by last year’s deadline of January 16, the number is significantly higher this year.
At the same time, it needs to be mentioned that there is no suspended MPA from Punjab according to the list issued by the ECP, as the provincial assembly has already been dissolved.
The suspended MNAs include senior PML-N leaders and cabinet members Ahsan Iqbal and Khawaja Asif. Also, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Noor Alam Khan, is among the members whose membership has been suspended.
Other federal ministers are Sajid Turi, Mufti Abdul Shakoor, Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema, and Mohammad Israr Tareen.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui is also on the list.
The ECP said that lawmakers cannot participate in parliamentary proceedings and their membership will remain suspended until they submit their respective statements.
