Only 22 candidates submit financial declarations 2 days to deadline

Only 22 out of the 386 candidates who ran in the parliamentary elections have submitted their financial declarations with just two days remaining to the deadline, says Elections Commission (EC).

Spokesperson and member of EC, Ahmed Akram reports the deadline for submission of financial declarations is 00:00 on Saturday, April 27.

Akram reports that only 22 candidates have submitted their financial declarations so far, and stressed that failure to submit financial declarations may be punishable for up to one year in prison.

The financial declarations must be approved by a licensed auditor.

EC is processing financial declarations at the fifth floor of its headquarters. The commission is open for submissions from:

• 08:00-00:00 hours on Thursday, April 25
• 14:30-00:00 hours on Friday, April 26
• 09:00-00:00 hours on Saturday, April 27

The responsibility of submitting the financial declaration falls on the candidates and their representatives. All parliamentary candidates, regardless of win or loss at the election, are required by law to disclose their financial declaration detailing their campaign expenditure.

Candidates were previously required to submit financial declarations within 30 days after polling day. But a recent amendment to the Elections Act now requires candidate to submit financial declarations within 21 days after the polling day.