Pakistans poor political elite?
ISLAMABAD - The laughably pitiful attitude of the parliamentarians to hide their wealth details, this time from Punjab and Sindh assemblies, saw the habitually annual repetition on Friday after the Election Commission of Pakistan finally took the pain to make public the assets details of the ruling elites of the two provincial assemblies.
As stereotypically subtle part of this notably bizarre exercise, which the ECP cannot help observing as a silent spectator, the filthy rich political elites sound quite timid in revealing the details of their otherwise aristocratic lifestyles.
Despite that the Punjabs Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has assets worth over 175 million rupees in UK including a Rs146 million mortgaged property there, no record of his believably big assets in Saudi Arabia is provided in his assets returns.
The Punjab CM, whose family owns one of the richest industrial group of Pakistan, has assets worth slightly over Rs90 million in Pakistan. Perhaps the huge brigade of vehicles parked at his Raiwand residence are just delusional entities, Shahbaz Sharif actually owns only one 2006 model gifted Toyota Land Cruiser. His first wife has assets worth Rs254 million and second wife has assets that value over Rs9 million.
The CM Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah conveniently managed to conceal actual worth of his land details by attaching a two-line note right at the top of his assets returns which read, These represent costs/valuations made by government agencies several years ago. No fresh valuations are available. Shah owns a house in the Karachis posh area of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) that values only Rs2.7 million. The net worth of his other land properties does not exceed Rs1.5 million.
The value of imported bullet proof Toyota Land Cruiser that belongs to Prime Ministers son Abdul Qadir Gilani, according to his assets returns, is Rs128 million. He has 500 tolas of gold that value Rs13 million. Considering market price of per tola gold being Rs49,110, the 500 tolas of gold do not value less than Rs24 million.
Chaudhry Moonis Elahi is car-less and does not have any vehicle registered in his name. What calls for eyes to pop out of their sockets is that Elahis business abroad values only seven hundred thousand rupees. The payable loans on his part are Rs150 million. Devoid of any vehicle, Raja Riaz also joins the car-less club. He has a four kanal plot in Faisalabad but as fate has it, this poor plot worth only four hundred thousand rupees. Rajas wife has a factory in Chakwal valuing Rs4.6 million and he is liable to pay bank loans of Rs8.4 million. He has three shops and three quarters the net value of which is Rs2.5 million.
Opposition leader in Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Zaheeruddin has three businesses in Pakistan that worth Rs3.3 million. Deputy Speaker Sindh Assembly Shehla Razas spouse has 300 shares in a business enterprise valuing only Rs30,000. Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana Mashood owns a 2003 model Santro worth Rs325,000.
Speaker PA Rana Iqbal lives in a joint house valuing Rs3 million only. Rana, another member of the elite car-less club, has two expensive watches of Rs0.22 million. Speaker Sindh Assembly Nisar Khuhro has taken a bank loan of Rs10 million in his wifes name. His total assets value Rs22 million. The live savings of Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa are counted at Rs1.2 million. He has one shop registered in his wifes name while Khosas other shop was destroyed in a bomb blast. His total assets worth Rs13 million.
Zulfiqar Mirza has a 1992 model ancient vehicle. His wife Dr Fehmida Mirza has a plot in Islamabad worth Rs1 million. The poorest parliamentarians include Shazia Mari, Faisal Sabzwari, Nadia Gabol, Farah Deeba and several others who do not have any movable or immovable property registered in their names and are perhaps leading their miserable lives with sheer reliance either on petty savings, small investments or some divine intervention!
Meanwhile, according to a handout issued in Lahore, a spokesman of Sharif family has clarified the news item in which it has been stated that the value of the assets of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is Rs 17 crore, says a handout issued here on Thursday.
He said that in fact the personal investment of Shahbaz Sharif in foreign assets is only Rs 3 crore whereas the remaining amount of Rs 14 crore consists of loans which he got from various sources including Rs 8 crore obtained from the banks.
http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-...s/17-Jun-2011/Pakistans-poor-political-elite/
