Faryal Talpur. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD: Several leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) were revealed to be the richest lawmakers in Sindh Assembly on Friday as the Election Commission of Pakistan released the financial details of the provincial legislators.
Beginning with those who share close ties with the Bhutto family, PPP leader Faryal Talpur, sister of former president and the party co-chairperson, Asif Ali Zardari, has assets worth over Rs380 million to her name. The brother and sister are currently facing a corruption inquiry by the national watchdog.
Faryal's daughters, Aisha Talpur and Fatima Talpur, own assets worth over Rs140m and Rs30m respectively, while their aunt, Zardari's other sister and Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho has assets worth over Rs100m.
The party's other bigwigs are not too far behind. According to the ECP's records, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah owns assets worth over Rs220 million. The CM has properties worth more than Rs40m, two cars valued at over Rs10m, and more than Rs160m in different bank accounts while his wife has 100 tolas of gold to her name.
PPP's Faryal, Sharjeel and Murad lead list of richest Sindh lawmakers
Another senior PPP leader and Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani has assets worth over Rs2m, while MPA Shehla Raza has holdings worth over Rs10.8m and MPA Ali Gohar Mahar owns assets worth over Rs260m.
Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani and former provincial information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, both PPP legislators also facing corruption inquiries, had their assets valued at over Rs60m and Rs370m respectively.
Besides, former Sindh home minister Suhail Anwar Siyal has holdings worth over Rs7m and former Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah owns assets worth over Rs20m.
However, if you thought all of the richest MPAs in Sindh Assembly were of the PPP, you couldn't be more wrong. The opposition leaders are no paupers either.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Firdous Shamim Naqvi has over Rs160.8m in assets to his name while MPAs Haleem Adil Sheikh and Khurram Sher Zaman own assets worth over Rs10.9m and Rs59m respectively.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) MPAs Kunwar Naveed Jameel and Khawaja Izharul Hasan also feature among the richest. The ECP's records show the former to have assets over Rs50.2m to his name while the latter owns assets worth over Rs10.1m.
According to the ECP's data, the poorest lawmaker in Sindh is Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan's (TLP) Sarwat Fatima whose total assets were valued at a little over Rs120,000. Sarwat has no cars to her name.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2019.
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