518 legislators fail to file their assets details with ECP

ISLAMABAD: As many as 518 members of parliament and four provincial assemblies have failed to submit their statement of assets and liabilities and of their dependents to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) despite several reminders by the electoral body.

According to the ECP, 23 Senate, 116 National Assembly, 208 Punjab Assembly members, 55 Sindh Assembly, 91 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and 25 Balochistan Assembly members have not yet submitted their asset declarations.

They include some members of the federal cabinet and a chief minister. They still have additional 15 days to fulfill the legal requirement prior to suspension of their membership till they file the required documents.

An ECP statement says, “Members of the Parliament and provincial assemblies were required to submit to the Election Commission by 31st December, 2024, yearly a copy of assets and liabilities including assets and liabilities of their spouse(s) and dependent children as on the preceding 30th of June on Form-B which is a mandatory requirement under Section 137 of the Elections Act 2017.”

It points out that the legislators…“are hereby informed through this press release to submit their statements of assets and liabilities till 15th of January, 2025 during office hours failing which membership of sitting members shall be suspended on 16th January, 2025 by the Honourable Election Commission of Pakistan in accordance with Section 137(3) of the Elections Act, 2017.”

According to the ECP lists, Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani, Saifullah Nyazee, Hamid Khan, Rana Mahmoodul Hassan, Zarqa Suhrawardy, Farooq H. Naek, Saifullah Abro, Anwarul Haq Kakar, Aimal Wali, Quddus Bizenjo, Abdul Qadir and Danesh Kumar have not yet submitted the required details.

According to the statement, National Assembly members including Sheikh Waqas Akram, Amir Muqam, Shahram Khan, Anjum Aqeel, Sheikh Aftab, Osama Sarwar, Aqeel Malik, Daniyal Chaudhry, Bilal Kayani, Chaudhry Farrukh Altaf, Noshin Iftikhar, Attaullah Tarar, Zahoor Qureshi and Zain Qureshi, have not been able to submit the details of their assets.

Likewise, MNAs Ali Musa Gilani, Abdul Qadir Gilani, Tehmina Daultana, Ijazul Haq, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Jamshed Dasti, Khursheed Shah, Farooq Sattar, Izharul Hassan, Akhtar Mengal, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Ghafoor Haideri, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Mehreen Razak Bhutto, Mehtab Akbar Rashdi also did not submit the details of their assets.

According to the ECP announcement, Ahmed Iqbal Chaudhry, Khawaja Imran Nazir, Hafiz Farhat Abbas, Marrium Aurangzeb and Uzma Bukhari from the Punjab Assembly did not submit their declarations.

Those who did not submit their asset declarations from the Sindh Assembly include Azra Fazal Pechuho, Taimur Talpur, Saeed Ghani, Hafiz Naeem and Syed Aijaz Hussain Shah. Similarly, Fazl Hakeem Yousafzai, Anwar Zeb Khan, Taj Muhammad, Sardar Shah Jahan Yousaf and Abdul Munim from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly did not submit their asset declarations.

Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, Nawabzada Tariq Magsi, Mir Zafarullah Zehri, Raheela Durrani, Asfandyar Khan Kakar have not submitted their returns from the Balochistan Assembly.