NA Speaker instructs suspended members to leave the House as members are barred from proceedings until statements are made
ISLAMABAD:
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has suspended 159 members of parliament and provincial assemblies for their failure to submit declarations of their assets and liabilities.
The suspension affects 32 members of the National Assembly, 50 members of the Punjab Assembly, 33 of the Sindh Assembly, 28 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and seven members of the Balochistan Assembly. Nine senators were also suspended and the suspended members will not be able to participate in any parliamentary or provincial assembly proceedings until their membership is restored.
Prominent political leaders who have been suspended include Balochistan National Party chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.
From the Pakistan Peoples Party, Syed Abdul Qadir Gilani and Ali Musa Gilani have been suspended from the National Assembly. Members of the National Assembly Saira Afzal Tarar and Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto have also been suspended.
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From the Sindh Assembly, party chairman Awais Qadir Shah, former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah and Saeed Ghani have also been suspended.
From the Senate, the memberships of Fauzia Arshad, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Abid Sher Ali and Musaddiq Malik, along with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Murad Saeed, and Noor ul Haq Qadri have been suspended.
From the Sindh Assembly, Speaker Awais Qadir Shah, former Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Agha Shehbaz Durrani, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman and Saeed Ghani have been suspended.
The ECP says the affected members’ memberships will not be restored until they submit their statements of assets and liabilities.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq, has asked the suspended members to leave the house, saying that their attendance will not be recorded, nor will they be allowed to sit in the house.
According to Pakistani election laws, all elected representatives must submit annual statements of their assets and liabilities to the ECP. Failure to comply with this requirement results in automatic suspension of membership.
