MPs Declare Assets by December 31
MPs declare assets by December 31, 2026, under a deadline set by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for members of parliament, the Senate and provincial assemblies to submit their annual statements of assets and liabilities.
The statements must cover the financial year 2025-26 and declare assets and liabilities as of June 30, 2026. They must include the assets and liabilities of the lawmakers' spouses and dependent children.
Under the law, MPs declare assets and liabilities on the prescribed Form-B, and all parliamentarians and provincial lawmakers are required to submit their statements.
What the law requires
The requirement comes from Section 137 of the Elections Act, 2017. It says every member of an assembly and the Senate must submit a copy of their statement of assets and liabilities, including those of their spouse and dependent children as of the preceding June 30, on Form-B, on or before December 31 each year.
The Election Commission of Pakistan said it would publish the names of members who fail to submit their declarations by the deadline through a press release on January 1, 2027.
If a member still fails to submit the declaration by January 15, 2027, the commission will suspend their membership through an order on January 16. A suspended member cannot take part in the proceedings of their house until the statement is filed.
The commission added that action for the offence of corrupt practice could be taken against any member if the submitted declaration is found to contain materially incorrect information. Such proceedings can begin within 120 days of the submission.
Last year, 446 lawmakers missed the deadline
The warning carries weight because the commission has acted on it before. Last year, 446 lawmakers failed to submit their statements by the December 31 deadline. They included 125 members of the National Assembly, 26 senators, 159 members of the Punjab Assembly, 62 members of the Sindh Assembly, 48 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and 26 members of the Balochistan Assembly.
The commission gave them until January 15 to comply. When 159 still had not filed, it suspended their membership on January 16, 2026, and directed that they cease to function as members until they submitted their statements.
The year before that, the commission suspended 139 lawmakers for the same failure.
Why MPs declare assets each year
Asset declarations are one of the few tools voters have to check whether their representatives' wealth matches their known income. The statements are filed with the commission, and the ECP publishes the names of those who do not file.
The exercise covers every legislature in the country: the National Assembly, the Senate and the four provincial assemblies. The commission has also been active on other electoral fronts this year, rejecting Punjab's proposal to hold local government polls in April 2027.
Parliament has also been the centre of the emergency debate this year, after the Senate endorsed the KP emergency resolution last month.
For lawmakers, the message is plain. The form must be filed by December 31, it must cover the family as well as the member, and the figures must be accurate. Those who miss the date will be named on January 1, and those who still have not filed by January 15 will lose their membership until they do.
Frequently asked questions
Who must declare their assets by December 31?
Members of the National Assembly, the Senate and all four provincial assemblies must submit annual statements of assets and liabilities, including those of their spouses and dependent children, for the financial year 2025-26.
What is Form-B?
Form-B is the prescribed form on which lawmakers declare their assets and liabilities as of June 30, 2026. Filing it by December 31 each year is mandatory under Section 137 of the Elections Act, 2017.
What happens if a lawmaker misses the deadline?
The ECP will publish the names of non-filers on January 1, 2027. Those who still have not filed by January 15 will have their membership suspended on January 16 and cannot take part in proceedings until they file.
What happened last year?
In January 2026, 446 lawmakers missed the deadline. The ECP suspended 159 of them on January 16, 2026. The year before, 139 lawmakers were suspended for the same reason.
