Over 340 lawmakers withdrew around Rs165 billion under the People Works Project (PWP) and some Rs120 billion under the prime minister’s discretionary funds for completing several development schemes in their constituencies during their tenures.

Public accounts auditors said that federal ministers received the greatest chunk of funds from public accounts from among all lawmakers for this purpose. Yet, over 51 ministers out of a cabinet of almost 70 were not re-elected.

There are no records by the Cabinet Division to indicate if the funds withdrawn were equal to the funds spent.

Officials revealed that an additional sum of Rs156 billion was released to various lawmakers under special directions from former prime ministers Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf, of which the cabinet division had also not maintained a record.

Minister by minister

Former premier Ashraf withdrew funds worth Rs49.5 million under the PWP in NA-51 of Rawalpindi while Rs21 billion were taken out for various projects from the PM’s discretionary funds. Despite this, he was defeated by Raja Javaid Akhlas of PML-N.

Similarly, former federal minister for railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, who was elected from NA-1 Peshawar, accepted funds worth Rs54.4 million under the PWP. He was defeated by Imran Khan.

Bilour said he had spent the development funds quite “honestly” in his constituency. “But I respect voters’ opinion about my party in the 2013 elections,” he said.

Rs59.5 million were withdrawn for development projects in NA-79, Faisalabad by former federal minister Rana Farooq Saeed Khan, who also did not win against his electoral rival, the PML-N’s Chaudhry Shahbaz.

Faisal Saleh Hayat, former minister for housing and works withdrew Rs40 million for Na-66, Jhang, under the PWP, but also could not retain his seat.

Chaudhry Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, who served as state minister for communication for 2008 received funds worth Rs40 million for his constituency in NA-98 but also remained unsuccessful.

Mian Manzoor Wattoo, another minister in the last govt, who withdrew Rs29 million under PWP, lost in NA-146 to Rao Mohammad Ajmal of PML-N while Syed Sumsam Ali, who served as minister of state for information and broadcasting was defeated by PML-N’s Muhammad Ashiq Hussain despite procuring Rs59 million for developmental work in NA-145.

Former Federal Ministers Amir Muqam withdrew Rs60 million for various projects in NA-31 while Hameedullah Jan Afridi spent Rs59.8 million in NA-46, Tribal Area – both of whom lost their seats.

Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi and Anwar Ali Cheema lost elections in NA-66 and NA-67 of Sargodha respectively. Qureshi received Rs58 million to complete various schemes in NA-66 while Cheema took Rs60 million for NA-67.

Former federal ministers Firdous Ashiq Awan and Nazar Muhammad Gondal withdrew Rs60 million and Rs45.4 million respectively under the PWP for various schemes in NA-111, Sialkot and NA-109 Mandi Bahauddin respectively. Both were defeated in the elections.

Former ministers Khawaja Sheraz Mehmood and Dost Muhammad Mazari also could not retain their seats from the Dera Ghazi Khan division despite receiving Rs60 million each for their constituency. Likewise, Sardar Qayyum Khan Jatoi failed to win in his home constituency of NA-180 in Muzaffargarh.

Ayatullah Durrani received Rs49 million for his constituency, but was defeated by his political rival in NA-268 Balochistan. He was of the view that his defeat was linked to the provincial government’s failure to maintain law and order. “I did serve for the people of my constituency,” he said.

Awais Leghari’s, who is the former minister for information technology, stood out as one person did not withdraw his funds for NA-172. Curiously enough, he retained his seat, albeit as an independent.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2013.

Interestingly, these irregularities surfaced in the accounts of the Frontier Constabulary and the Frontier Corps around October last year when the heads of both forces had warned lawmakers that a lack of funding and weapons, and subsequent low morale might force the paramilitary units into ‘giving up the fight’. They had told a Senate panel that the 26,172-strong 108 platoons of the FC deployed in the provinces had only 42 heavy machineguns.

The AGP found misappropriations of over Rs676 million in the Frontier Constabulary in K-P, and irregularities worth Rs570 million in the Frontier Corps in Balochistan, according to a 2011-12 audit report exclusively made available to The Express Tribune.  Irregularities, illegal deduction and non-deposit of funds were spotted in the accounts of the interior ministry, when Rehman Malik was in charge. These paramilitary forces fall under the ambit of the interior ministry.

FC Balochistan

The auditors found irregularities worth Rs570 million in the accounts of FC Balochistan and Balochistan Police during the last fiscal year. Both forces collectively purchased vehicles worth Rs570 million without the approval of the finance ministry. It also failed to inform the vehicles committee about the purchase till auditors discovered the irregularities. The audit report states that the expenditure, incurred in violation of government instructions, is irregular.

FC K-P

The report, which is likely to be tabled in Parliament in July this year, further revealed irregular deduction and retention of Rs139.8 million in the accounts of the Frontier Corps in K-P. This deduction was made from the pay of ‘jawans’ on account of ‘Scouts Saving Scheme’, the report stated. The auditors called for the unlawful deduction to be immediately stopped.

It was also revealed that the Frontier Constabulary K-P commandant withdrew an amount of Rs136 million for the purchase of arms and ammunition in 2010-11. The amount was deposited in a private bank account, while the supply of arms is still awaited. Auditors recommended an investigation into the incident.

The commandant also failed to deposit payments worth Rs195 million, received from various organisations, into the government’s accounts during the last fiscal year. The commandant, whose name was not mentioned in the report, deployed 17 FC platoons with multinational companies and government organisations for security through contract agreements.

The overseers of public accounts also revealed that the management of district officers failed to recover an amount of Rs209.9 million on account of pay and allowances of troops deployed with various private companies. The due amount may be recovered and deposited into the government’s accounts, auditors observed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2013.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jehangir Khan Tareen talking at the Central Secretariat, demanded a recount of votes in 25 constituencies of the National Assembly, including NA-154 on the basis of thumb impression’s audit.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, he held the Returning Officers responsible for the alleged rigging and misappropriations that took place during the general elections. He attacked the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision of the complainant bearing the recount expenses, calling it unfair.

To support his argument, Tareen presented an overview of accounts that reported misappropriations at the hands of the electoral staff and urged ECP to refurnish results in several constituencies including his home constituency, NA-154 Lodhran.

“My application for recount had been kept pending for three days after 14 May while my access to the record had also been denied by the election officials,” he said, while presenting his side of records to those present.

He said that out of 220 bags, the seals on 170 polling bags was broken while counter foils of around 26500 ballot papers were without the signatures and seals of Assistant Presiding Officers.

“Marked electoral rolls from five polling stations were missing while 934 unused ballot papers were also absent from the record,” he added.

Despite all the evidences of rigging, he hoped he would win the race once recounting is completed.

PTI’s Central Information Secretary Dr Shireen Mazari, present at the press conference, questioned the ECP on it’s decision to charge candidates for a thumb impression’s audit.

“Charging ten or fifteen rupees per vote from the aggrieved candidate who asks for a thumb impression’s audit due to apprehensions about rigging or misappropriation in the polls is completely unfair,” she said.

“It will also deny justice to the voters.”

“In its recommendations, the law ministry advised Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior to ratify the European convention for the transfer of prisoners,” said Caretaker Law Minister Ahmer Bilal Soofi.

The ratification of the treaty with Washington will enable Islamabad to seek repatriation of Pakistani citizens imprisoned in US as well as other countries which have ratified the agreement.

However, Soofi said the matter is tricky and may take some more time in obtaining US’ final consent.

Pakistan is negotiating over the agreement concerning the transfer of offenders with approximately two dozen countries.

The law ministry has been given the task to finalise the procedural matters. This issue has also been taken up by the federal cabinet in the past when Dr Aafia Siddiqui was convicted by a US court.

The law minister said the government had two options to seek repatriation of convicted Pakistani prisoners. Either they could join a bilateral treaty called the Inter-American Convention or ratify the Council of European convention to repatriate Pakistani prisoners.

“We preferred the European treaty because it was appropriate,” Soofi said. If Pakistan ratifies the bilateral Inter-American Convention, then only convicted prisoners can be repatriated from Pakistan to US and vice versa.

Pakistan did not want to ratify the bilateral treaty as it was complicated and could also ask for the repatriation of accused persons. For instance, through the treaty, US could demand Dr Abdul Qadir Khan’s repatriation, who was accused of transferring nuclear technology to some states illegally.

After being advised by the law ministry, caretaker Interior Minister Malik Habib sought a No objection Certificate (NoC) from the Foreign Office for an agreement with the US on the transfer of prisoners.

Washington has showed its willingness to cooperate with Pakistan over the exchange of prisoners. The outgoing government also endorsed the foreign ministry’s suggestion for Pakistan to sign the Council of Europe Convention to take up Dr Aafia’s case, as well as that of other prisoners.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2013.

These candidates were declared victorious when each of them secured more than a hundred thousand votes, according to unofficial results announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Around 50 million of over 86 million registered votes were cast on the election day.

Forty-seven candidates of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz secured over one hundred thousand votes each in the elections, making the party reach the leading position in terms of overall votes received.

Eleven of total 18 successful candidates of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) secured over 1.8 million votes collectively.

Nine candidates of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians secured over 100,000 votes each, three candidates of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and two independent candidates bagged over a hundred thousand votes each in these polls.

Not a single candidate from Awami National Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, Pakistan Muslim League-Zia, Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto Group, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl and Jamaat-e-Islami could secure over a 100,000 votes.

Interestingly, three women candidates, by surmounting all odds, bagged over one hundred thousand votes each.   A successful candidate from Punjab, Sumera Malik of PML-N, secured 118, 108 votes from NA-69 Khushab, while the two winning candidates from Sindh, Fehmida Mirza of PPPP secured 110,684 from NA-225 Badin and Azra Afzal Pechuho bagged 111,667 votes from NA-213 Nawabshah.

Political observers term it a good omen and give credit to impressive turnout in this general election.

In the 2002 general elections, only ten candidates had collectively bagged over one million votes, with each gaining over 100,000 votes, as the turnout was 35 to 40 per cent.

Among the candidates who gained most votes, MQM candidate Abdul Waseem leads by securing 192,678 votes in NA-243. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s candidate Pir Amin ul Hasnat Shah stands second with 156,709 votes in NA-64, Sargodha.

Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan comes at third position as he secured 147,916 votes on ticket of MQM in NA-256, Karachi, while Dr Khalid Maqbool of MQM secured 141,030 from NA-219, Karachi.

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif gained 140,546 votes from NA-68, Sargodha; Nabeel Ahmed Gabol of MQM secured 139,386 votes from NA-246, Karachi while Chaudry Armaghan Subhani of PML-N grabbed 136,991 from NA-111. Syed Waseem Hussain of MQM secured 135,886 votes from NA-220, Hyderabad while Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of PML-N secured 133,906 votes from NA-50, Rawalpindi.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of PML-N secured 132,905 from NA-52, Rawalpindi and Chaudhry Hamid Hameed of PML-N gained 132,668 votes from NA-66, Sargodha.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan secured 132,283 from NA-71, Mianwali while Nasir Iqbal Bosal of PML-N secured 133,128 votes from NA-109, Mandi Bahauddin. Raja Javed Ikhlas of PML-N who defeated former Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in NA-51, Rawalpindi grabbed 121,067 votes while Sardar Yousaf of PML-N collected over a hundred thousand votes in NA-20, Mansehra by defeating PTI leader Azam Khan Swati.

Ghulam Sarwar Khan of PTI defeated PML-N senior leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan by bagging over one hundred thousand votes in NA-53. Two independent candidates Afzal Khan Dhandla from NA-74 Bhakkar and Jamshid Ahmed Dasti from NA-177, Muzaffargarh secured over a hundred thousand votes as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2013.

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Justice (r)  Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has decided to release 51 Indian fishermen on humanitarian grounds as a gesture of good will. The prisoners have already served their sentences.

The decision was taken at a high level meeting attended by Federal Minister for Law Ahmer Bilal Sufi, Chief Minister Sindh Justice (r) Zahid Qurban Alvi and senior officials of the Ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs, Law and Justice and the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.

Khoso expressed hope that the Indian government will reciprocate the gesture and release the Pakistani prisoners incarcerated in Indian jails.

The prime minister was informed that currently 482 Indian prisoners were in Pakistani jails, whereas 496 Pakistanis were in Indian jails.

He was further informed that the Government of Pakistan was awaiting the confirmation of national status of other Indian prisoners.

Khoso directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to initiate dialogue with India for the release of Pakistani prisoners and the return of Indian prisoners.

At the same time, the party rejected the results of the May 11 polls just as the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) had done earlier.

“We renounce the May 11 results,” Senator Sardar Fateh Muhammad Hasni told the Senate Standing Committee on Interior. “Ninety per cent of the elections were not held in the province as people did not come out of their homes to vote,” Hasni said.

Some 22 districts of the province are Baloch dominated, while eight are Pakhtun majority areas.

Presiding over the Senate panel, Hasni said elections were only held in 20% of the province.

Spending a month and a half in the province, where only Levies forces personnel filled ballot boxes, choosing their favourite candidate, Hasni said it is the Election Commission’s responsibility to announce elections anew in the Baloch belt of the province.

PPPP’s provincial leadership registered a complaint with the Election Commission in Quetta but in vain, he informed the committee. Endorsing Hasni’s view, PPPP Senator Yousaf Baloch said a committee ought to be constituted to probe the matter further.

No voting took place in Dera Bugti, Chaghi, Gawadar, Makran and other areas of the Baloch belt, according to him.

Both lawmakers urged Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, to take notice of what they called rigging in favour of some political parties in certain constituencies of National Assembly.

Hasni summoned the CEC, inspectors general of both Sindh and Balochistan and NADRA chairman on Thursday (May 23) for a briefing on how to resolve election-related issues.

NADRA and interior ministry officials will brief the Senate panel on May 23 whether thumb impressions can be verified or not.

Awami National Party’s Senator Shahi Syed and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Pervez Rashid endorsed the idea of fingerprint/ thumb print verification in constituencies where massive rigging was reported.

Sindh security

Elaborating upon the security lapse in Sindh, Senator Mukhtar Dharma informed the committee that robbers held his family hostage in Nawabshah on the polling day, which the interior secretary and IG Police, Sindh did not respond to despite repeated requests.

“Dacoits harassed voters in rural Sindh but security personnel did not rescue voters,” he said.

In response to Dharma’s concerns, Additional Secretary Muhammad Misbah admitted to a security lapse in Sindh. He claimed that the police in the province were deeply politicised.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2013.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, presiding over the Senate Panel on Thursday, demanded that re-elections be held in parts of Balochistan.

“We renounced the May 11 polls’ results in Balochistan as most of the people did not come out of their homes on voting day. The turnout in Pashtun districts remained low,” Senator Sardar Fatteh Hasni told the Senate Standing Committee on Thursday.

There are eight Pashtun districts in the province while 22 districts are Baloch dominated, which give them a majority in Balochistan.

Presiding over the Senate Panel in absence of Senator Talha Mehmood, Hasni said he wanted to inform the people that elections were held in only some parts of Balochistan.

Only 20 per cent of the polling stations were working on election day, he said. No one was able to vote in Dera Bugti, Chaghi, Gawadar, Makran and other areas where the majority of Baloch population exists, he complained.

The PPPP lawmakers demanded that a powerful committee be formed to investigate the matter.

Hasni also summoned ECP Chief, Inspector Generals of both Sindh and Balochistan and Chairman National Registration Database Authority on Thursday to hold a briefing on how to resolve election related concerns.

NADRA and Interior Ministry officials are expected to brief the Senate Panel on whether finger prints are verifiable.

Security issues were also pointed out for Sindh with Senator Mukhtar Dharma claiming that robbers kept his family hostage on Election Day and that Interior Secretary and IG Police did not take notice of his continuous requests.

The movement called Tehreek-e-Muhibban-e-Pervez Musharraf (TMPM) will fight against political victimisation of Musharraf and his supporters, and will make efforts to get the former army chief released from ‘jail’.

All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) leaders told The Express Tribune on Wednesday that the decision was taken last week when party chief Musharraf boycotted the May 11 polls.

“We launched TMPM to have our leader quickly released from jail,” said Shakil Qureshi, central president of this movement. The peaceful endeavour is to get Musharraf’s name cleared from all the politically motivated cases being heard against him in courts of the country, he added.

Around 480 APML ticket holders will run this peaceful ‘people’ movement, and some retired senior military men also support the campaign, said Qureshi.

He claimed that Musharraf will be released by May 28.  He also said that General Musharraf will stay in Pakistan after getting released from the ‘sub-jail’—his farmhouse in Islamabad.

APML leaders were to meet Wednesday night to discuss future approach after their meeting with Musharraf, he added.

‘TMPM a message to PML-N’

Political observers also believe that the purpose of such a movement at this time is to send out a message to the newly elected government of PML-N not to drag on Musharraf’s cases.  By launching such movement, senior political analyst Raza Rumi said that Musharraf is trying to stay politically relevant in a situation where all the odds are being stacked against him. “This (TMPM) is yet another attempt to ensure that there are some laws for Musharraf also in a country where his arch rival—Nawaz Sharif is to rule as prime minister.”

Rumi was of the view that the greatest dilemma PML-N faces for its incoming government is whether to prosecute Musharraf.  “If PML-N goes ahead with Musharraf’s trial it runs the risk of enraging Pakistan’s powerful military establishment. If not, then it loses the moral high ground it has maintained for a decade,” he told The Express Tribune.

A middle path may be followed for an amicable civil military relation, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2013.

In its interim report, the European Union, which deployed the largest foreign election observer mission in Pakistan, said the voting at 90% of the polling stations remained ‘satisfactory’.

However, ‘serious irregularities’ were reported on the remaining 10% polling stations mostly in Sindh, said Chief Observer Michael Gahler while releasing the preliminary findings of EU observers during a news conference.

“Overall, this election in Pakistan was indeed a step forward towards democracy,” added Gahler, who also headed the EU mission in 2002 and 2008 parliamentary elections.

He said the EU mission undertook limited observation in Karachi, where they saw some ‘serious problems’ in polling. Karachi was the focus of most complaints reported by rival political parties.

Responding to a question, Gahler said they took note of threats by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain about ‘detaching’ Karachi from the rest of Pakistan. “Let’s see what action the British government takes against its citizen,” he said.

Over 140 EU observers scrutinised polling, counting and the compilation of results covering in total 679 polling stations in 140 constituencies.

Gahler noted that compared to 2008, the number of women National Assembly candidates were doubled, from 64 to 158, and almost tripled for the provincial assembly seats from 116 to 298.

Reading out the interim assessment, the chief observer said strong commitment was shown to the democratic process by political parties, candidates and voters, who continued to participate in the electoral process despite high levels of militant attacks in parts of the country.

“Violence by non-state actors did not deter voters from casting their votes in unprecedented numbers and reconfirming their determined support for democratic rule,” the report noted.  It also pointed out that there was increased confidence in the Election Commission, which had undertaken some stakeholder consultation and was generally seen as operating with more independence.

The ECP, however, has not used its broad powers to establish a complete regulatory framework, leaving critical aspects of the election open to discretion and the ECP vulnerable to inadequate decision-making, it added.

Regarding access of European Union Mission in Balochistan and Fata, Gahler said “Pakistan did not stop us from observing the electoral process there but we ourselves showed restraint due to our own staff security rules.”

Meanwhile, a separate mission by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) recommended that polling results be declared null and void in constituencies where women were not allowed to vote.

In its interim report, the Commonwealth Observer Mission said 2013 elections represented ‘notable progress for Pakistan towards holding fully democratic elections.’

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2013.