The Election Commission of Pakistan has released the details of the parliamentarians' assets for fiscal year 2012-13, with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif being the richest lawmaker and Shahbaz Sharif the richest chief minister. As many as 1,174 parliamentarians submitted the details of their annual assets. These included 342 Members of National Assembly, 728 Members of Provincial Assemblies and 104 Senators.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif being the richest parliamentarian has declared assets worth Rs 1.824 billion and owns 1,754 kanals of land as well as four vehicles. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif possesses assets worth Rs 424.07 million. He is named the richest chief minister. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has assets amounting to Rs 232.03 million whereas Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Malik owns assets worth Rs 40.04 million. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has been ranked fourth among the chief ministers with assets worth Rs 16.02 million.

Pakistan Tahrik-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan owns assets amounting to Rs 29.6 million. The value of Imran's assets has declined. It stood at Rs 82 million during 2005-6 when he was the party's only representative in the National Assembly, according to PILDAT. Most of the land he possesses is inherited and is in districts Bhakkar, Khanewal, Sheikhupura and Islamabad. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar has not provided the details regarding market value of his property, which he inherited.

Like previous assets declaration, Jamshed Dasti takes the last place, having the least amount of assets, with only his salary bank account. While the assets declared by PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi stand at Rs 197.09 million. Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has assets worth Rs 172.03 million.

The total assets declared by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman are worth Rs 29.06 million. The Awami Muslim League (AML) Chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has assets worth Rs 41.8 million. Opposition leader in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah has Rs 26.09 million worth of assets. Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Farooq Sattar owns assets worth Rs 3.64 million. An official of the ECP said that it does not come in the purview of the commission to scrutinise the details of assets declared by parliamentarians. Therefore, in majority cases the parliamentarians failed to submit the asset detail of their dependants.

The commission notified that as parliamentarians must have fulfilled the obligation laid down by the sub-section (1) of Section 42 A of the Representation of the People Act, 1976, that every member shall, submit a statement of assets and liabilities of his own, his spouse and dependents annually to the commission by the thirtieth day of September each year.

The commission has displayed the list on its website and in case of any complaint, the complainant has the right to go to the court of law, the official said. Director General Sher Afghan has already made it clear that the commission has no mandate to ascertain the authenticity of the annual assets details submitted by lawmakers. Although on every occasion, the ECP raised the issue and requested necessary legislation, but no step has been taken in this regard.

Author: Wasim Iqbal

Souce: Business Recorder