Pakistan’s National Assembly on Wednesday approved legislation that allows elected lawmakers to temporarily keep their personal and family asset details out of the public domain, citing concerns related to personal safety and security. The move, which was opposed by the party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, permits parliamentarians to seek confidentiality for a limited period if disclosure is believed to pose a serious risk to them or their immediate family members.
As reported by Dawn, the provision can be applied in cases where making asset information public is assessed as creating a credible threat to the life, safety or security of a member of Parliament or their relatives. Under existing law, lawmakers at the federal and provincial levels are required to submit comprehensive declarations of their assets and liabilities each year.
At present, members of the National Assembly, Senate and provincial assemblies must file detailed statements with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by December 31 annually. These disclosures include information about assets held by the lawmakers themselves, as well as those owned by their spouses and dependent children. The law also mandates the ECP to publish these declarations in the official gazette for public access.
The newly passed bill introduces an amendment to Section 138 of the Elections Act, empowering the Speaker of the National Assembly or the Chairman of the Senate to suspend public disclosure if releasing such information is deemed to endanger a lawmaker or their family. However, the exemption is not open-ended and can only be granted for a maximum duration of one year at a time, provided the member submits a full and accurate asset declaration confidentially to the ECP.
In addition to the confidentiality provision, the National Assembly approved changes to nine other sections of the Elections Act, which has now been retitled the Elections (Amendment) Act, 2026. Most of these amendments are technical in nature and involve updating legal language to reflect recent constitutional and judicial changes introduced after the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
One of the key updates involves replacing references to the “Supreme Court” with the “Federal Constitutional Court,” in line with the establishment of the new court under the constitutional amendment. The 27th Amendment, adopted in November, not only created the Federal Constitutional Court but also brought changes to the structure of the country’s military leadership framework.
Before the bill can come into force, it must still be approved by the Senate and receive formal assent from the President.
