LAHORE: Despite being among the lawmakers suspended from the Punjab Assembly over the non-disclosure of their assets before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Provincial Food Minister Samiullah Chaudhry has chaired a meeting of his department.
As per the constitution, a suspended lawmaker is neither allowed to use an official vehicle nor can he or she chair any meeting of the respective department. However, it has been observed that all provincial ministers are still using the facilities they were provided under the portfolio, including their official vehicles.
It is worth mentioning here that the suspended lawmakers include 10 members of the Punjab cabinet and six others performing their duties as advisors to Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar.
As many as 112 provincial are still facing suspension whereas the membership of only one MPA has been restored so far.
The MPA, namely Ovais Dareshak, of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was allowed to function as a provincial assembly lawmaker after he submitted his assets’ details Friday.