The International Monetary Fund has raised objections to a proposed legal amendment aimed at keeping the assets of lawmakers confidential and has asked Pakistan to withdraw the changes.<\/p>\n
According to sources, officials from the Election Commission of Pakistan informed the IMF that the commission would not compromise on transparency in the disclosure of lawmakers\u2019 financial details.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Law and Justice also told the IMF that the government had not formally supported the amendments, which were introduced as a private member\u2019s bill by lawmakers belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party.<\/p>\n
Sources said the IMF has asked the law division to present a clear position on the matter. The amendment to the Elections Act 2017 was passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan to limit the public disclosure of legislators\u2019 assets and liabilities, after members of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) voted in its favor.<\/p>\n
However, sources said the amendment has not yet become law because the Senate of Pakistan has not voted on the bill.<\/p>\n
The bill had been introduced in the National Assembly in May last year by lawmakers Syed Naveed Qamar and Shazia Marri. It proposed an amendment to Section 138 of the Elections Act, stating that the extent of disclosures made in the official gazette would be determined through a notification.<\/p>\n
Sources further revealed that the IMF also sought a briefing on recent amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance. Last week, Asif Ali Zardari approved the NAO (Amendment) Bill 2026, which extends the tenure of the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau by an additional three years.<\/p>\n
The tenure of NAB Chairman Nazir Ahmed was due to expire last week.<\/p>\n
Pakistani officials told the IMF that a previous government in 2022 had removed the clause allowing extension in the chairman\u2019s tenure, a move that had drawn objections from the IMF at the time, as it believed such extensions could ensure continuity in policies.<\/p>\n
However, the IMF has now emphasized the need for a more transparent mechanism for key appointments, including that of the NAB chairman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The International Monetary Fund has raised objections to a proposed legal amendment aimed at keeping the assets of lawmakers confidential and has asked Pakistan to withdraw the changes. According to sources, officials from the Election Commission of Pakistan informed the IMF that the commission would not compromise on transparency in the disclosure of lawmakers\u2019 financial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":67423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,16],"tags":[103],"ppma_author":[213],"class_list":{"0":"post-72698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest","8":"category-pakistan","9":"tag-top-stories"},"yoast_head":"\n