Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, Law Minister Farogh Naseem and Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri are among the 318 lawmakers whose membership of Senate, federal and provincial assemblies has been suspended by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The lists, released by the ECP on Thursday, include the names of lawmakers, both federal and provincial, who have been suspended due to their failure to submit a list of their assets and liabilities by the end of year 2019. The failure to submit the statement of assets and liabilities is a violation of Section 137 (1) of the Elections Act, 2017 and Rule 137 (1) of the Election Rules, both of which dictate that elected members should submit the documents to the ECP by December 31 of each year.

According to the ECP notification, 12 senators and 70 MNAs have been suspended. Among provinces, 115 MPAs were suspended from Punjab Assembly, 40 from Sindh Assembly, 60 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and 21 from Balochistan Assembly.

According to Section 137 (3) of the Elections Act, 2017, members who fail to submit the statements by January 15, will be suspended until they turn in relevant documents.