Readying for next batch: CDA evicts former lawmakers from Parliament Lodges

Operation expected to be completed before new lawmakers take oath next week

ISLAMABAD: With a new batch of lawmakers set to take oath next week, the civic body Friday evicted former parliamentarians from the family suites of the Parliament Lodges.

The Enforcement Directorate of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had on Thursday issued final notices to former lawmakers to vacate their allotted suites.

Some former lawmakers, though, failed to comply with the orders.

“In the wake of non-compliance, the competent authority has decided to vacate these family suites,” read a notification from the authority.

During the operation, which took place on Friday morning, police, as well as sub-divisional magistrate of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), were called in to break the locks of the occupied rooms.

According to CDA sources, around 62 to 65 family suites have been vacated so far while the remaining 20 to 25 accommodations are still occupied by parliamentarians.

The CDA enforcement teams are expected to continue their operation on Saturday and Sunday, before the newly elected lawmakers stream to the capital to take oath on Monday.

According to CDA officials who did not wish to be named, former lawmakers who were occupying the suites include Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Syed Javed Ali Shah, PML-N’s Sheikh Aftab Ahmed Khan, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Muzmamil Qureshi, Qaumi Watan Party’s (QWP) Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, PML-N’s Sar Zamin Khan,  independent Aamir Dogar, APML’s Iftikharud Din, MQMs’ Sohail Mansoor Khawaja, MQM’s Salman Baloch, PML-N’s Abid Sher Ali, Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Ghulam Rabbani Khar, PML-N’s Obaidullah Shadi Khel, PML-N’s Talal Chaudhry, MQM’s Dr Farooq Sattar, Pir Ameenul Hasnat Shah, PML-N’s Zafarullah Khan Jamali, PML-N’s Major Tahir Iqbal, PML-N’s Bilal Virk, JUI-F;s Maulana Ameer Zaman, PML-N Raja Matloob Mehdi, PML-N’s Shaza Fatima, MQM’s Sheikh Salahuddin, independent Zain Ellahi, PML-N’s Sardar Jaffar Leghari, PML-N’s Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal, PML-N’s Abdul Ghaffar Dogar, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Mahmood Khan Achakzai.

The CDA Directorate of Parliament Lodges had issued a notice to 92 former-parliamentarians to vacate their allotted suites. These parliamentarians were not re-elected to the National Assembly on July 25.

They had been asked to hand over possession of their lodges to the caretaker of the Parliamentary Lodges by July 31.

When they failed to comply, a final notice was issued to them on August 8 with directions to vacate their suites within 24 hours.

“Till Thursday evening, over 20 ex-parliamentarians vacated the lodges while another 15 had conveyed that they would do so later that day. “

A day earlier the enforcement wing of the authority undertook an operation against eight shops built within the premises of the Parliament Lodges to facilitate inmates.

The action was taken on the directions of Senate Standing Committee on House Business while permissions for these shops was also withdrawn.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2018.