ECP restores membership of 19 parliamentarians

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday restored membership of 19 parliamentarians following submission of statements of assets.

In a statement, the ECP said that it received 19 statements of assets from the federal ministers, senators, parliamentarians from National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies. Out of 53 suspended members of Punjab Assembly, no one filed his or her statement in ECP.

The membership of Interior Rehman Malik, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain, Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Defence Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar and Minister for State Sheikh Waqas Akram is included in the list of those, whose membership as lawmakers have been restored.

An official of the commission said that parliamentarians or their representatives were visiting the election office even after the closing hours. He added that arrangements have been made to collect the statements at the desk established at commission office.

The commission suspended membership of 231 parliamentarians in national and provincial assemblies for their failure to declare details of their assets to the commission.

Restoration of membership notifications have been issued to nine members of National Assembly, four senators, one member of Sindh Assembly, three members of Khyber Pakhtunkwa Assembly and two of Balochistan Assembly.

The MNAs included Noor Alam khan, Sardar Saleem Haider Khan, Muhammad Asim Nazir, Sheikh Waqas Akram, Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Sardar Muhammad Irfan Dogar, Jamshed Ahmed Dasti and Syed Naveed Qamar.

The senators are Muhammad Ali Durrani, Pervaiz Rashid, Dr Asim Hussain and Rehman Malik. Similarly, Qazi Shams Din (Sindh Assembly) and Ghulam Qadir Khan Bettani, Haji Sher Azam Khan Wazir and Munawar Khan Advocate from KP Assembly, Abdul Khaliq Khan Achakzai and Husun Banu from Balochistan Assembly.

The ECP on Friday issued suspension orders to these ministers and parliamentarians, as it is mandatory for public representatives to file assets returns each year for the assessment.

According to details, 103 members of National Assembly, 13 senators, and 115 members of provincial assemblies have violated the ECP's rules by not providing the details of their annual returns to the Commission.