Membership of half of parliamentarians at stake

A total of 517 lawmakers have failed to submit their tax returns to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by the December 31 deadline, according to a report by 24NewsHD TV channel.

The ECP has stated that members can submit their returns late, with a final deadline of January 15.

Twenty-three members of the Senate, 116 of the National Assembly, 208 of the Punjab Assembly, 55 of the Sindh Assembly, 91 the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, 24 of the Balochistan Assembly have not submitted the returns so far.

The commission has warned that lawmakers who fail to submit their tax returns by January 15 will have their memberships suspended.

Notable members who have not yet submitted their tax returns includeSenate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, Farooq H Naik, Aleem Khan, Hafiz Naeem, Rana Mahmoodul Hassan, Hamid Khan, Anwarul Haq Kakar, Aimal Wali Khan, Sardar Yousaf, Shahram Khan, Anjum Aqeel, Sheikh Aftab, Aqeel Malik, Daniyal Chaudhry, Sheikh Waqas Akram, Attaullah Tarar, Mian Azhar, Zain Qureshi, Ijazul Haq, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Owais Leghari, Jamshed Dasti, Khursheed Shah, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Mahmood Achakzai, Akhtar Mengal and  Farooq Sattar