PTI chairman Imran Khan (L), JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (R).
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued details of the assets and liabilities of members of parliament on Wednesday, revealing the ‘billionaire club’, which included Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Apart from the premier, MNAs Khalil Zaman Orakzai (NA-16) and Dr Raja Ameer Zaman (NA-19) from Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), Sajid Hussain Turi (NA-37) and Bismallah Khan (NA-43) from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (NA-50) were also among the billionaires.
PM Nawaz, as per the declarations, owns agriculture land worth Rs1.43 billion, has made investments of over Rs13 million – he has shares in six different mills – and has Rs126 million in seven bank accounts. He also owns a Toyota Land Cruiser 2010 as well as the 1973 and 1991 models of Mercedes Benz. The premier also owns a 1991 model tractor.
Meanwhile, PTI’s Ameer Zaman disclosed that he owns property worth over Rs2 billion and that the value of one of his houses in Sector F-7 is Rs1 billion. But Ijazul Haq, the son of former military dictator General Ziaul Haq, pointed out a discrepancy as he claimed that he, too, owns a house in the same locality, which costs only Rs1.64 million.
According to last year’s asset declarations, Sajid Hussain Turi owned as many as 1,000 shops in Turi Market, Parachinar, Kurrum Agency, but he had said that the value of his property remained “unknown”. However, this time around, he declared his wealth to be in the billions.
Chaudhry Parvez Elahi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) declared that he owns non-agriculture property of Rs8.5 million with – surprisingly – no mention of agriculture land. Elahi, in his last year’s declarations, had said he owned 60 acres of agriculture land worth Rs366,667, which meant that the price of one acre was just Rs6,111.
Separately, Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Khursheed Shah of the PPP declared that he owned property worth Rs20 million and his major source of income was a cotton factory worth Rs5 million.
PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim owned property worth only Rs32 million, having some 184 acres of land. But he did not mention the price of this inherited land.
Former Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza claimed that she was the owner of property worth Rs40 million while her husband, Dr Zulfikar Mirza, shockingly owned property of only Rs18 million. Dr Fehmida also owns an apartment at Global Lake View, Dubai, which is priced astonishingly low at Rs1.6 million.
The poorest of them all
Independent MNA Jamshed Dasti was declared the poorest MNA last year, declaring nothing save his MNA salary. This year, Dasti ‘owned nothing’. He did not fill his asset-declaration form and only informed the ECP of an account in Allied Bank Limited, Parliament House. He did not even show any cash in the account.
Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman declared he owns two houses worth a mere Rs4 million, has Rs1.6 million deposited in the bank and gold worth Rs0.95 million. But he failed to declare possession or ownership of any vehicle – despite being seen in SUVs many times.
PTI chairman Imran Khan was relatively poorer this year as his net assets slightly decreased by Rs0.5 million as compared to the previous fiscal year. His net assets amounted to only Rs29.6 million this year. Out of the 14 different properties he owned in Pakistan, he inherited eight while two were gifted, according to the declaration. PTI Chairman also owned a Toyota Prado whose estimated value is Rs5 million. He also has cash of Rs13.6 million in Bank Alfalah Islamabad.
The chief ministers
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Parvez Khattak has declared to own real estate priced at Rs221 million and a Toyota Corolla worth Rs1.3 million.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s assets valued at Rs142.2 million and his wives attained more wealth than him, according to the declarations. However, Shahbaz -- unlike his elder brother, PM Nawaz –disclosed that he has property worth Rs138 million in London.
Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik has declared agriculture land worth over Rs280 million but said that he does not own any vehicle.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah valued his moveable and immoveable property at an implausible Rs16.2 million. He also claimed that he does not own a car and uses his daughter’s Honda City.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2013.
COMMENTS (79)
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Our poor Prime Minister wears watch worth Rs.450 million and pays income tax of Rs. 5000.. That is why he was declared as Sadiq & Ameen.
What about the value of 1600 kanal Mahal of Nawaz Sharif in Raiwind. For valuation purpose,I frequently visit that area, the present average cost of land in that vicinity is around Rs. 2500000/ Kanal. which amounts to Rs. 3200000000/ only.
This is my second missive in regard to Pakistan assets and taxation liabilities. I understand that the average person on the Sub-Continent is not doing that well compared to Western countries, but the financial figures being thrown around in regard to Pakistan leaders are penny-ante stuff. There really are two are or three things to be considered in regard to leaders, which I will attempt to explain from my point-of-view, First off, we do not need leaders who cannot handle their personal financial affairs. Secondly, it seems to be a fact of life that people who are elected to government receive many financial benefits, on a world-wide basis, which are not available to the average person. Thirdly, our leaders, on a world-wide basis, look after themselves, but have a callous disregard for the little people. First off again, apart from annual tax liabilities one is not legally obliged to tell the world about his/her assets as a general rule, although this may not be so in Pakistan.. In regard to income one is allowed to minimize his/her income to the lowest level as long as it is legal. I came from a lower middle-class background, was fortunate enough to get a good education, worked hard, collected a few assets along the way, received relatively small inheritances, legally minimize my income like everybody else, and only pay the taxes my government demands. Now, as I move into decrepit old age I am getting by with only minimal help from the taxpayer, but still pay my taxes, which keeps the poorer people going. I am not envious of Nawaz Sharif. He does not appear to be that wealthy to me, although if as some contributors indicate Pakistan does not oblige people to pay their taxes at a reasonable level the system should be improved. However, people should not complain about the advantages politicians receive, and their take from the public purse. It is a fact of life and fortunately there are not that many of them
I think I will have to move to Pakistan. Where I live all the various forms of government know how much I am worth to the nearest Rupee, and tax me accordingly.
It is my considered opinion that Pakistani Law allows the submission of such obviously untrue information regarding declaration of assets. The value of the properties are submitted on the basis of their price at procurement rather than their current market value. I am not sure if that is true for the assessment of taxes or not, but that seems to be true for declaration of assets for our elite. Furthermore, I am not clear on whether immediate family member's holdings must be declared or not. If so, then the politician's [or General's or Bureaucrat'd or Judge's] financial worth must be considered equal to that of all of his Wives and Children put together and, as such, quoted similarly in the papers.
BTW, I am a middle class Banker in Karachi, Pakistan and my 2,000 sq ft apartment in Saddar, Karachi is worth PKR 13 Million, as per current market worth. Based on my recent salary, an income tax amount of PKR 6 lacs plus was forced deducted from my salary alone. Add to it the Sales Tax and other indirect taxes, and I very easily paid over a million rupees in taxes to the Government of Pakistan. I have a single car, more than 8 years old, as I cannot afford another car and even if I could borrow the money to buy it, I cannot affort the fuel for it. Now let's please compare my income, taxes and lifestyle to that of our so-called leaders...
@Ch. Allah Daad:
yeah ! what he paid was sales tax collected from customers who buy product which his factories produces and this so-called sales tax is mandatory and he has to pay to the govt....so what is the big deal....? and NS by claiming that he pays tax in million is just fooling the people....let him post his audited balance sheet on website like PTI, only then it will prove NS claim....
@Aysha M: Pls get a life
How IK an International beggar can accumulate so much wealth without ever having a real job? With all his money it is a shame that he still keeps begging the whole time. When would he return our monies that he took for charitable cause and not using his own money? When would his begging in the West stop even after being humiliated by the West?
@ PTI Trolls Probably the kids are too naive to understand that the cost of per kana land is more than Rs 5 million in Bani Galla, Islamabad. Going by the basic accounting, The real value of Imran Khan's 300 kanal farm house (scenic palace) costs Rs 1500 million, whereas he has declared the value of his entire assets at less than Rs 30 million. The Supreme Court & ECP must take notice of this Gross Misdeclaration! @ Ayesha M Madam, may I dare to ask you who owns the following property in UK: 12 Abbey View, Mill Hill, London. NW7 4PB?? Can you please make a guess regarding the value of this house? According to Zoopia, it's value is £2,005,692 which in Pakistani Ruppee terms is more than Rs 340 million. Not to talk of Pakistan but even the rich people in UK cannot afford such properties!! Koi Bolay Ya Na Bolay Shabbir Tu Bolay Ga!!
@khuram Malik: A house in Islamabad sector F-7 for 1.6 million rupees? give me a break!!
WHAT MEANS IT
@ Aysha M - MQM leadership assets are already being declared by Scottland Yard!
Zordari missing in the list....Bilawal will give the assets of Zardari..after he file his nomination for NA seat
As usual PTI fanboys busy bashing everyone else, here is the info of Mr. Clean not in this article but available on ecp website:
Bani Gala estate in Islamabad - 300 Kanal, GIFT from wife Flat in diplomatic enclosure - cost 1.1 million, Hundreds of acres of land - All inherited or gifted to the great self made manThen there is this great father-son duo in Karachi, who proudly claimed that although the tax paid by them was minute, their hospital paid all the taxes but continue to bash others even when they also claim that their mills/plants pay the taxes and not them just like their hospital. Also in their claim they have invented another clever scheme - No vehicles owned by them, all owned by their hospital, hence no quantity, value present in their statement. Cant wait them to bash others when others will claim that their vehicles are also owned by their mills/ farms/ factories etc.
Hypocrites...
@Zafar: With the amount recovered, you will have to get loan from HBFC to buy a house in a posh location in one of the big cities in our country, so that is negligible amount, and no charges framed yet, but the sly, scheming Sethi has some tales to tell, you have every right, unfortunately no plausible reason to believe him,
The asset/liability trend was started by PTI on their website. Well done Imran Khan for the idea of Transparency. The tax authorities should now scrutinise these declarations and apply the relevant laws to all those who have misrepresented. No exceptions!!!!!!! Furthermore any voting right should be linked to income declaration / tax paid for all Pakistani voters. This would require the gearing up of the corrupt Pak tax authority.
The assets declared by Nawaz Sharif do not include the hidden assets abroad made by money laundering.
Ijazul Haq, today is your lucky day as I am willing to pay twice the amount of your house, in F-7, against a declared market price of Rs1.64 million i.e. I will pay you Rs 3.28 million for your house. Just let me know where to pay.
A judicial commission should be set up to investigate into this stinking issue of misdeclaration of assets, act of forgeries, nonpayment of taxes, misleading public and acts of treason by these politicians and office holders. A case should be filed in the court to challange this corrupt ECP and those manipulating this institution.
@Jibran: He is so honest that he has paid tax, even if it is a joke; This Rs5000 he paid is a sign and glaring example of how SHAMELESS this man is;
Cheats, Liars, Fraud Experts are the Ruling Class; All the rhetoric and noise on POOR, HOMELESS, SICK, UNEDUCATED, UNEMPLOYED etc; etc; is for public consumption. These Thieves, Dacoits and Robbers have no idea what a normal Pakistani does to live a honest clean life; They only know how to steal and cheat; Shame on our people who have allowed such criminals to still be alive;
Forbes will give you reall assets value @SHB:
Please Add "10000" PKR to Mr Nawaz sharif total amount, I just payed my income tax.
Look at the pride and satisfaction beaming from Nawaz Sharif's face... One would think he earned it hard.
Anyway atleast NS or Kaptaan had a vocation (business, cricket) as the source for their riches. What eludes me is the prosperity of the Maulana... Haven't heard him do any real work...
@Ch. Allah Daad: how much exactly does he have to lose to come down to an income tax level of 5000 rupees?
@AyeshaM are you kidding? middle class party's leader is living in london. is it affordable for a middle class?
@district: Nawaz Sharif may not be the best but optimal for Pakistan
@Jibran:
Please visit ECP website for information on Nawaz's income tax paid before making flase accusations.
Forbes estimates the net worth of the Sharif brothers - mainly from their industrial holdings - as between $1.2 and $1.4 billion US dollars. The amount here seems grossly under-reported.
Interestingly, two MNAs from FATA have assets worth billions. What such industries are there in FATA? I doubt even the entire GDP of FATA is that much, let alone a few markets as they claim to own? Sounds like black market money.
Nawaz Sharif is best for Pakistan
@Aysha M:
So right! London Police sweeped the place and found a few million pounds in garbage!
@a_writer:
Not that I think these gains are all honest, but your suggestion will absolutely insure that no one with honest earned money will try for politics. Oh well, I guess that will lay to rest the illusion of a benevolent ruler
Nawaz and Sharif families assets and living standard do not go by the tax they have paid over the years.
There should be a national movement of offering to buy out the asset of politicians at the declared prices.
This declaration seems to me a futile exercise. Everybody knows that these declarations hardly matches the life style and standards of livings of these people and their dependents. Obviously it is quite understood that these people either hide their wealth and declared assets are underestimated. Interestingly what will happens if these declarations are false? Is there any process which verify these declaration if not than this mere a exercise.
@Jibran: Sir you need to grow up ... that time Mian Sb was not in Pakistan as he was arrested and than deported, his all assets were claimed by Pervez Musharraf ...
@SHB: www.ecp.gov.pk. It appears that you didn't even read the first line and jumped straight to comments section
@Ch. Allah Daad: Don't you think he knows that. For him trolling is a habit, "Jealousy is a tribute mediocrity pays to brilliance."
IK has always fought for transparency.
@Aalia: That was a "Gift".
Looks like PPP does not even exist??
Ayesha M. Bhatta isn't a taxable income I suppose.
The assets listed appear quite low. I do not consider myself wealthy by any measurement. I am reasonably comfortable, but just getting by in a Western country. However, my wealth in dollar terms is higher than IK. I find it difficult to understand. Surely, the journalists have it wrong.
There is only one class in the community that thinks more about money than the rich, and that is the poor. The poor can think of nothing else. Oscar Wilde
Pakistanis should start a revolution, come out on strets everyday and demonstrate till all the billionaires give up their money and go out of Pakistan.
I can't see the name of MQM's any member or leader name in the list and same goes to Gen Pervez Musharraf....
Good work ET.
But can you please include all members of Parliament National and Provincial.
And also can you make the story more interactive by using Graphs and tables.
What A Joke???? The worth of their assets and properties would be 10 or 100 times higher than they have declared. Again What a shame on us. If the leaders of the nation hide the things then how do they expect the nation for honesty.
@Saleem: Whatever they have in the UK is nothing compared to what is listed above
@Ahmad: because you vote for these people and not those who are among the 98% of the population and truly represent the 98%, wah wah to the voters
@Aalia: 300 Kanal? lol. Do you have any idea how much land that is?
@Aysha M:
You are correct - MQM is absent from this list as all their assets are in UK!
Leaders Ameer-tareen Voters ghareeb-tareen
Wah Pakistan Wah !!
@Ch. Allah Daad: (1) Ch. Allah Daad is not the Accountant in Ittefaq Foundries. (2) There is difference between sales tax and income tax. (3) As the richest businessman, millions is not sufficient. Some TV anchors are paying more than 2 million in Taxes.
The assets of big land lords is understandable as they could have large inheritance. But Nawaz Sharif entire family led by his father which migrated from India had just one Itefaq foundry in 70s.Now his personal assets are in billions.His brother owns another billion,and the family owns many billions.This is the result of massive corruption carried out by them.The money belongs to the tax payers of Pakistan.
Nawaz has always openly declared his assets. Unlike the last government.
This elite billionaire club people who are very patriotic too, how much taxes they pay individually? I guess must be tens of millions by each one of them!!!
What a misdeclaration of assets by these MNAs and Senators!. Once again I say failure of FBR why they do not questions these MNAs about there assets and how they live the life of lords with such little income.Why should an ordinary citizen pay taxes if rich get away without paying their due share of taxes
Another attempt of making this nation fool are we so innocent that every year they disclose these assets with such details that even a child will laugh at it. What about all the accounts and properties which they own in the name of their kids , wives and relatives so that it should not be accounted for. Please don't make us stay in fools paradise. Election commission you must be happy now on getting such an accurate statements from these poor politicians . I wonder with such a limited income and property how would they be managing their expenditures . Please donate to help these poor .
Lying with nation but who cares if these lairs do not have any fears, even fears of God.
Which web site can give detail information about assets of all these politicians? Any body to help?
It is OK to be rich but the questions comes to mind whether these people have paid fair share of their taxes to the treasury and above all have they donated any thing for the citizens of Pakistan. I would like to know if Nawaz Sharif has built a charitable hospital, schools,college, orphanages or what ever for the benefit of Pakistanis. What I understand that he has investments in Saudi Arabia, England and US, did he declare those investments and is he paying any taxes on it to Pakistan's treasury since he is a Pakistani citizen. It is mind boggling that these people are rich enough and still look to the government for hand out and perks. By the way ET should also look into the current and retired Generals as well as Bureaucrats assets and find out what are they worth and if they are paying fair share of their taxes. Those who has properties in London, Paris, Dubai or NY, it is very easy to find out the market value of those properties and then figure out the discrepancies in the declared values, we are living in the 21st century and these people can't hide their wealth abroad and get away with it. And then they call themselves Muslims and lying is the norm with our high priests.
Why does it seems that that only PTI's members declared their assets fairly. Nawaz owns far more than Rs. 2b. My people, you can check the list of the richest Pakistanis on wikipedia and the cited references. He has a worth more than $1.4b. What a joke. A PM who lies can be attributed to having no integrity. His government, full of dacoits, won't succeed.
@Jibran: Nawaz Sharif belongs to Pakistan's leading business family. When a businessman loses money, he pays less income tax and when his profits increase, he pays more income tax. Since 2009, Mian Sahib has paid millions of rupees in income tax.
Nawaz Shairf net worth is in billions, yes, but billions of dollars. Shahbaz Sharif declaring less than his wives, nice joke. If any serious investigation was carried out, these statements (with the exception of few) will reveal themselves for what they are: cruel lies that are making fun of the Pakistani people.
There should be a law - in the Sub-continent countries (India, Pakistan etc.) - The year one is elected to public office, their wealth in all shape and form is public property and belongs to the govt. Only what they can earn while in public office is their's to keep. If you are a poor politician this is no big deal; if one is rich like the current PM of Pakistan, they will stay away from politics for good ! What do y'all think?
These figures are grossly understated especially that of the assets of NS.
And they will serve the poor !
Why does any one not ask the Election Commission, or the new Chief Justice to take suo motto action and verify these assets. A house in Islamabad sector F-7 for 1.6 million rupees? give me a break!!
One party conspicuous by its absence in the above list, MQM truly and genuinely a party of middle and lower middle classes
At least the myth of being a poor nation is put to rest.
What about the 300 kanal house of Imran Khan?
Nawaz Sharif was paying Rs. 5000 in income tax in 2009. All of a sudden he has assets worth billions, especially when he was in Pakistan only as vacations.