ISLAMABAD: Election Commission (ECP) of Pakistan Monday suspended the legislative memberships of 153 lawmakers including 24 cabinet members -six members of federal cabinet and 18 members of provincial cabinets of all the four provinces— for failing to submit their wealth statements of previous financial year 2019-20.
These lawmakers include three senators, 48 Members National Assembly (MNAs), 51 Members Provincial Assembly (Punjab), 19 MPAs (Sindh), 26 MPAs (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and six MPAs (Balochistan).
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan is not a member of Punjab Assembly but he is wrongly shown in ECP list among lawmakers with suspended legislative memberships.
The lawmakers with suspended legislative memberships include six members of federal cabinet —three federal ministers, a state minister and two special assistants. Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Fehmida Mirza, Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi, Housing and Works State Minister Shabbir Ali, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Capital Development Authority Affairs Ali Nawaz Awan, and PM’s Special Assistant on Water Resources, Power and Petroleum issues related to Balochistan Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind are the six federal cabinet members whose NA memberships have been suspended for not filing their statements on assets and liabilities for financial year 2019-20.
Five members of Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar’s cabinet are also in the list. They are Environment Minister Muhammad Rizwan, Auqaf and Religious Affairs Minister Pir Syed Saeed-ul-Hassan, Population Welfare Minister Muhammad Hashim Dogar, Minister for CM Inspection Team Muhammad Ajmal, and Human Rights and Minorities Minister Tariq Masih.
Six members of CM Sindh Murad Ali Shah’s cabinet are: Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla, Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah, Culture and Tourism Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah, Information Minister Taimur Talpur, Industries and Commerce Minister Jam Ikramullah, and Coordinator to CM Sindh Hina Dastagir.
The seven members of CM KP Mahmood Khan’s cabinet are: Shaukat Ali, Labour and Culture Minister, Ahmed Hussain Shah, Special Assistant on Population Welfare, Kamran Bangash, Special Assistant on Higher Education, Hisham Inamullah Khan, Minister Social Welfare, Muhammad Iqbal Khan Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Minister, Ghazi Ghazan Jamal, Special Assistant on Excise and Taxation and Wazir Zada, Special Assistant on Minority Affairs.
Minister for Secondary and Higher Education Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind is the only member of CM Balochistan Jam Kamal’s cabinet whose membership is suspended for not filing the annual wealth statement.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan is not a member of Punjab Assembly as he has not taken oath despite winning the election on Punjab Assembly seat PP-10 Rawalpindi-V but he is in the ECP list for not submitting his wealth statement. Ishaq Dar has also not taken oath as a senator but he has submitted his wealth statement, according to ECP record.
The legislators, under the law, are bound to submit their yearly statements of assets and liabilities and those of their spouses and dependent children as on each year’s June 30, not later than December 31 each year, a mandatory requirement under Elections Act, 2017.
Those lawmakers who fail to submit their wealth statements by the given deadline are given 15 days to submit wealth statements failing which their legislative memberships are suspended.
Sections 137 (2) and (3) of Elections Act, 2017 read “The Commission, on the first day of January each year through a press release, shall publish the names of members who failed to submit the requisite statement of assets and liabilities within the period specified under sub-section (1).
(3) The Commission shall, on the sixteenth day of January, by an order suspend the membership of a member of the Assembly and Senate who fails to submit the statement of assets and liabilities by the 15th day of January and such member shall cease to function till he submits the statement of assets and liabilities.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021