ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) suspended on Tuesday the membership of 26 lawmakers for their failure to meet the mandatory requirement of submitting statements of their assets and liabilities even three weeks after expiry of the deadline.

An official of the ECP told Dawn that letters had been sent to the chairman of the Senate and the speakers of the national and provincial assemblies to ensure that the suspended legislators did not attend proceedings of the houses till restoration of their membership after submission of the statements.

The list of suspended lawmakers is dominated by the PPP as it has names of its 11 members from the two houses of parliament and the Sindh Assembly, followed by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf`s seven members belonging to the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies. The list includes three independent members and one legislator each from the PML-N, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Awami National Party, National People`s Party and National Party.

Two of the three suspended MNAs belong to the PPP and one of the two Senators and eight of the nine members of the Sindh Assembly belong to the PPP.

The three suspended MNAs are Alizeh Iqbal Haider and Shah Jahan Baloch (PPP) and Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju (independent).

The two Senators on the list are Syed Faisal Raza Abidi (PPP) and Syed Mustafa Kamal (MQM).

Former interior minister Rehman Malik is one of the 14 legislators who avoided suspension because of a delay in issuance of the ECP notification.

Under the Representation of the People`s Act 1976, the last date for submission of the statements was Sept 30. Had the law been strictly implemented, the membership of 420 members would have been suspended.