Vehicle ownership: An anatomy of the wealth of Sindh’s MPAs

Some interesting revelations about vehicle ownership of Sindh Assembly lawmakers

KARACHI: Out of the 165 members of the Sindh Assembly, 64 claim that they do not possess any cars while there are seven lawmakers who only own motorcycles.

According to details of assets declared in the nomination papers for the 2018 general elections, 91 members of the provincial assembly are owners of 135 luxury vehicles worth millions. However, there are seven members who only own motorcycles while 64 do not possess any vehicles.

As many as 17 MPAs belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) own more than 20 cars, worth Rs7.5 million. Whereas, 94 of the Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) total 96 members own more than 28 luxury vehicles, worth over Rs35 million.

Interestingly, 13 former and current provincial ministers do not own any cars.

According to the nomination papers filed by the members with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Sindh's minister for health and former president Asif Ali Zardari's sister, Dr Azra Pehcuho, does not own any cars.

Surprisingly, Sindh's former ministers for local government Jam Khan Shoro, Fayyaz Butt, Imdad Patafi, Gayan Chand Israni, Shahid Taheem and Ghulam Shah Jilani also do not own any cars. Sindh Cabinet members Ismail Raho, Nasir Hussain Shah, Mukesh Kumar Chawla, Shehla Raza and Shabbir Bijrani also did not show ownership of any car while declaring their assets.

PPP's 39 members have no vehicles, while 54 members have more than 88 with an estimated value of Rs35 million.



Out of the three Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) members, Mufti Qasim Fakhri owns a Rs 20,000 motorcycle, Younis Soomro also owns a bike, while Sarwat Fatima does not own any vehicles.

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal's (MMA) only member in the Sindh Assembly, Syed Abdul Rasheed, and eight Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) members also do not have cars. While MQM's Parliamentary leader Kanwar Navid Jamil owns vehicles worth Rs3.5 million and MQM's Rashid Khilji, Abdul Basit Siddiqui and Adeel Shehzad only own motorcycles.

Meanwhile, 12 of PTI's members do not have any cars while 16 do. PTI's Haleem Adil Sheikh, along with three other female members, own no cars.

The Grand Democratic Alliance's (GDA) three Sindh Assembly members also have no cars, including the son of former prime minister Ghulam Mufata Jatoi, Arif Mustafa Jatoi, Nand Kumar and Abdul Razzaq. PPP leader Faryal Talpur owns three cars worth more than Rs1 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2018.