ECP suspends memberships of 22 parliamentarians

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Saturday released names of 22 members of the national and provincial assemblies whose membership has been suspended upon their failure to file annual asset statements for the year 2015-16. The only member of National Assembly whose membership has been suspended is Shaharyar Afridi.
As many as 18 members of Sindh Assembly with women elected on reserved seats are among the suspended members. These include Muhammad Saleem Rajput, Muhammad Ali Bhutto, Makhdoom Khaliluz Zaman, Khalid Bin Vilayat, Mehfooz Yar Khan, Muhammad Jawaid, Muhammad Kamran, Syed Muhammad Qamar Abbas Rizvi, Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari, Shehnaz Begum, Rehana Leghari, Rukhsana Parveen, Ghazala Siyal, Farhat Seemi, Bilqees Mukhtar, Nusrat Bano Sehar Abbasi, Soorath and Mukesh Kumar Chawla.
3 members of the Punjab Assembly who failed to submit annual statements are Masood Shafqat, Malik Sajjad Hussain Joiya and Sardar Mohammad Jamal Khan Laghari. Under the relevant law, all parliamentarians were required to submit details of their assets, including their spouses and children to the ECP by September 30.
A statement issued by the ECP said: "Whereas, sub-section (1) of Section 25A of the Senate (Election) Act, 1975 provides that every member of the Senate shall submit a statement of assets and liabilities of his/her own, spouse and dependents annually to the Commission by the 30th day of September each year. Whereas, sub-section (3) of Section 25A ibid further provides that the Commission shall, by the 15th day of October each year, notify the names of the members who fail to file statements of assets and liabilities within the period specified in sub-section (1) thereof and by an order, direct that such member will cease to function till such statement is submitted."