318 MPs suspended over failure to declare assets.

Byline: Iftikhar A. Khan

ISLAMABAD -- The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday suspended membership of 318 lawmakers over failure to submit their annual statements of assets and liabilities by January 15.

According to sources, those suspended include 70 members of the National Assembly, 12 senators, 115 members of the Punjab Assembly, 40 members of the Sindh Assembly, 60 members of the Khyber PakhtunAkhwa Assembly and 21 members of the Balochistan Assembly. The 70 defaulting members of the National Assembly include Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, Housing Minister Chaudhry Tariq Basheer Cheema, Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri, Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul and former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.

Others prominent on the list include former federal minister for national health services Aamer Mehmood Kayani, Amir Liaquat HussAain, Farrukh Habib, Raja Riaz, Chaudhry Birjees Tahir, Sardar Muhammad Bakhsh Mahar, Jehangir Alam Khan and Abdul Qadir Patel.

The 12 senators on the list include Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem, former KP chief minister Pir Sabir Shah, NP leader Mir Hasil Bizenjo and former special assistant to the prime minister Musadik Malik. The membership of Senators Rana Mehmood-ul-Hasan, Hafiz Abdul Karim, Najma Hameed, Zeeshan Khanzada, Muhammad Ayub, Fida MuhamAmad and Taj Muhammad Afridi has also been suspended.

The 115 defaulting members of the Punjab Assembly include Minister for Population Welfare Muhammad Hashim Dogar, head of the chief minister's inspection team Muhammad...