ECP directs lawmakers to submit asset details by Dec 31

Membership will be suspended over failure to submit statement of assets and liabilities, warns election watchdog

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday directed all members of parliament and provincial assemblies to submit their statements of assets and liabilities, including those of their spouses and dependents, by December 31.

According to ECP, all parliamentarians have to submit their yearly statements of assets and liabilities, including similar details of their spouses and dependent children, on the preceding June 30 on Form B for the financial year 2021-2022.

The commission, on the first day of January each year, publishes the names of members who fail to submit the requisite statement of assets and liabilities within the period specified under sub-section (1).

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Subsequently, the commission will suspend the membership of a member of an assembly or Senate on January 16, who fails to submit the statement of assets and liabilities “and such Member shall cease to function till (s) he files the statement of assets and liabilities”.

The ECP further said that any member submitting a fake statement of assets and liabilities under this section in material particulars may, within 120 days from the date of submission of the statement, be proceeded against for committing the offense of corrupt practice.

The ECP said that the prescribed form, along with instructions and guidelines prepared in this regard, can be obtained free of charge from the Election Commission of Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad, offices of provincial election commissioners in each province, Senate Secretariat, National Assembly, and secretariats of provincial assemblies.

“Form B can also be downloaded from the ECP’s website www.ecp.gov.pk.”