Various records showed that of the 200 lawmakers from different political parties between 2014 and 2019, around 25 of them self-declared billionaires, while 71 had assets worth over Rs 500 million each … writes Dr Sakariya Kareem
If all that the Pakistani parliamentarians had earned through surreptitious means in five years were to be collected in the national treasury, Pakistan would not have gone begging to all and sundry in the past few years, could have easily underwritten at least half of the CPEC project and more important fed its millions who had to fight and scrounge for few bags of wheat flour.
The irony of the situation is that while the people became poorer, the politicians grew fat on riches. In five years, as the country went begging from one country to another, lawmakers managed to increase their assets from Rs 49 billion to 91 billion. It was a phenomenal rise of 85 per cent.
These are the findings of an investigation carried out by a television channel recently. The investigation carried out by SAMAA TV’s Investigation Unit (SIU) found that 1,170 members of parliament (including those in the provincial assemblies and both the upper and lower houses) had amassed assets worth approximately Rs 49 billion or around $314 million in 2015. By 2019-20, their combined wealth had risen to approximately Rs 91 billion or $570 million.
The investigation focussed on the salaries earned by the parliamentarians and scrutinised their tax records submitted to the Federal Board of Revenue, the Election Commission of Pakistan, and other official sources.
The members of Parliament owned wealth and assets worth Rs 79.8 billion during tax years 2018-19, increasing by Rs 12 billion (15%) to Rs 91 billion in 2019-20, an average increase of Rs 10 million in the wealth of each lawmaker. It was also found out that the lawmakers held assets within and outside the country.
Imran Khan’s party and its allied lawmakers collectively saw an increase in wealth of over 85% during this period. The list includes several stalwart former ministers such as Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Omar Ayub Khan, Azam Khan Swati, Khusro Bakhtiar, Faisal Vawda, Shafqat Mehmood, Fehmida Mirza, Zubaida Jalal, Mahboob Sultan and Tariq Cheema.
The report found that while the people were dying in queues for wheat flour, politicians were busy investing in private firms or running their own businesses. About 311 MPs (27%), with investments in private firms or their own businesses, had a financial worth of around Rs 21 billion or $130 million. Of these, 71 had declared that they had dissociated from their businesses after becoming members of the National Assembly. But their tax records showed a different story–they were actually paying more taxes today compared to their wealth declared with the Election Commission of Pakistan.
By and large, an NA member paid approximately Rs 1.4 million or around $7,000 in income taxes in 2018-2019. Collectively, MPs paid around Rs 1.6 billion or $11 million in taxes in the 2018-19 tax year.
Various records showed that of the 200 lawmakers from different political parties between 2014 and 2019, around 25 of them self-declared billionaires, while 71 had assets worth over Rs 500 million each. Even close scrutiny of documents revealed another amazing story– the wealth or assets of some MPs and their dependents increased exponentially by as much as 300%. Of these, four dozen parliamentarians saw their wealth and assets increase by over 100% in the past five years, while a dozen parliamentarians saw their wealth rise by rise 200% to 300% during this time.
On top of all this, 29 members of the National Assembly declared assets worth around Rs 5 billion in the UAE, Norway, Denmark, UK, USA, Australia, and Canada.
Dozens of leaders chose not to pay income tax and did not register with the tax authorities. Of the 1,170 elected and appointed lawmakers, as many as 161 MPs did not file their income tax returns while 99 had either not paid taxes or were not registered with the tax authorities. Over two dozen female MPs owned financial assets linked with their millionaire husbands but were surprisingly not registered as regular taxpayers with the authorities. The strangest story is that the richest lawmaker, Noor Alam Khan, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and a disgruntled PTI member. His assets were over Rs 12 billion in 2013. But by 2019, he told the election commission that he owned assets worth just Rs 3.2 billion without explaining where the rest of his assets disappeared. His tax records show that in 2018 he paid just Rs 30,458 in taxes, and in 2019, he paid just Rs 82,311 in taxes.
The investigation also targeted important political leaders like Imran Khan. His income records show his wealth rising by 250 per cent from 2017 to 2020. In real terms, his worth rose from Rs 40 million in 2017 to Rs 142 million during fiscal year 2020.
Moonis Elahi, the scion of the Chaudhry’s of Gujarat saw a jump of over 114% in assets and wealth during the past four years. He owned assets worth Rs 652 million in 2015 while his wealth swelled to Rs 1.4 billion in 2019. Pakistan People’s Party’s leader Asif Ali Zardari’s assets jumped from Rs 715 million in 2020 to Rs 677 million in 2019. Former Federal minister and PTI leader Omar Ayub’s assets swelled by 203% between 2015 and 2019. Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s wealth saw a 241% increase from 2015 to 2019.
In all, politicians made merry while ordinary people were made to stand in serpentine queues for food, pay heavy price for ordinary medicines, burdened with high fuel costs and locked up and tried by military court for raising a revolt.
