PM’s Ajmer Trip: TIP questions transport mode for Raja

With Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s day-long pilgrimage to the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, India confirmed for this Saturday, Transparency International Pakistan has raised concerns over the mode of transport. PM Ashraf is likely to use an Air Force C-130 plane or the prime minister’s official a Aircraft and the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi has been directed to make the necessary arrangements for the visit. TIP said if it was, then it needed to be confirmed whether the prime minister could make a private visit on the public exchequer’s account and spend government funds for this purpose. TIP added that the use of government funds for personal use was a corrupt practice under the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 Article 9.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2013.