Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday removed details of the assets of parliamentarians from its website due to alleged pressure of some members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

The commission had published assets’ details of the last two years of the parliamentarians, but they were no more seen on the website.

Sources inside the commission said that assets’ details of 2014 were removed after parliamentarians pressurised the commission because they were scared of being labelled as tax evaders in the wake of Panama leaks.

“The action has been taken to stop the public from accessing the information about the assets a parliamentarian declared at the time of the elections,” an official of the ECP said on condition of anonymity. He said the ECP had been ordered not to upload such details on website till the end of the mega scandal.

Four years ago on January 11, a meeting was held with Ishtiak Ahmad Khan, the then secretary of the ECP, in the chair to adopt measures for ensuring the authenticity of the assets and liabilities submitted by the parliamentarians. The meeting concluded that the assets of all others deriving emoluments from the national exchequer should be put on the website.

Similarly, on April 10, 2015, the ECP released details of parliamentarians’ assets and liabilities for the financial year 2014. However, the details have been removed from its website.

The spokesperson for the ECP contradicted Daily Times saying that the assets’ details were placed on the website and the details of the assets for 2015 were being placed on the website. He said that assets’ details would be published in the annual gazette, not on the website, soon after completion of the process.