Baloch MPAs among the richest

The self-declared assets of 64 Balochistan Assembly members are worth Rs3.6b.

ISLAMABAD:

Balochistan Assembly members on average are worth Rs57 million each, according to the assets declaration filed with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). With this average net worth, the lawmakers belonging to the most impoverished province of Balochistan appear to be the wealthiest among their peers from other provinces.

Of the total 65-member house, the ECP compiled the asset details of 64 members of the provincial assembly for the year 2010. The details show a glaring contrast in their assets as many of them are multi-millionaires while a few others appear to be relatively poor in terms of wealth.

Declaration of assets each year is a legal requirement for every member belonging to national parliament and the four provincial assemblies as per rules of the ECP. In most cases, members provide obscure details while in some cases they declare the worth of their properties and assets a lot below the market value.

Since there is no mechanism available with the ECP to verify the claims of the members the law is considered to be a toothless tool and a cosmetic requirement.

Even still, the annual official gazette of the ECP containing the details of assets of members of legislative houses reveals interesting aspects of the overall social and political portrait of the country.

More than a dozen members from the Balochistan assembly claimed that they do not own a personal car while a few like the Balochistan chief minister declared that one of the cars in his personal fleet was worth Rs20 million, which he claimed was gifted to him by a friend from the UAE.

Many others only gave the purchasing cost of their assets and properties and did not mention the market price.

According to a rough calculation, the accumulative net worth of assets of the members of the Balochistan assembly for the year 2010 as per their own declarations stands at around Rs3.6 billion. The amount when divided by 65 (total strength) shows that an average MPA in Balochistan has net assets worth Rs56.38 million.

Leader of the Opposition Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind – the only MPA who sits on the opposition benches – is the richest among his fellow legislators in Balochistan Assembly with assets worth over Rs800 million.

Sheikh Jaffar Khan secures the second position with assets worth Rs544 million, while Mir Muhammad Umrani declared the worth of his assets at some Rs437 million.

Muhammad Sadiq Umrani declared his assets’ worth around Rs338 million.

Mir Asghar Rind possesses assets worth over Rs273 million, while Agha Irfan Karim – a lawmaker from the Khan of Qalat’s family – has assets worth Rs163 million.

Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raisani’s assets are worth around Rs186 million including a vehicle, a Hummer H2, that cost Rs 20 million. He owns properties worth Rs27 million in Quetta. He also declared that he purchased land worth Rs70 million in different districts of the province.

Muhammad Rahim Mengal from the PB 40 is among the poorest lawmakers in Balochistan Assembly as he declared his assets worth Rs0.5 million.

Interestingly, there are no details of the assets of Sultan Mohammad from the PB-22.

Pir Abdul Qadir, from PB244, is among the biggest land lords in Balochistan Assembly with around 2,800 acres of land. He declared his assets’ worth at around Rs130 million.

Speaker Balochistan Assembly Muhammad Aslam Bhotani owns 1,200 acres of lands worth Rs51 million.

Among the female MPAs, Ghazala Gola Begum seems to be the wealthiest member with Rs120 million declared assets. With additional reporting from Zahid Gishkori

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2011.