Khurshid Kasuri is the Richest MNA

Sher Afgan Niazi�s Assets Seen the Highest Percent Growth

Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency - PILDAT has released the Key Points of its analysis of the MNAs Assets Declarations for the last 4 years on the eve of the completion of 5 years term of the 12th National Assembly of Pakistan. Following is the Executive Summary of the analysis:

Executive Summary

PILDAT research team has analysed the Declaration of Assets made by the Members of the National Assembly during the past four years. The fifth year (2006-07) declarations have not yet been made public by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Now that the 12th National Assembly of Pakistan completes its 5 years on November 15, 2007, PILDAT is pleased to release the report containing key points from that analysis. Following is the Executive Summary of the key points.

This report attempts to present some key findings of the analysis of declaration of assets by the members of the 12th National Assembly of Pakistan filed during the past 4 years starting in 2002-03. The source of information for this report is �The Gazette of Pakistan� published by the Election Commission of Pakistan on October 20, 2003; October 16, 2004; November 18, 2005 and October 31, 2006.

Average Value of an MNA�s Assets

According to the findings of the report, the average value of the assets of an MNA has been Rs. 199.83 Million in 2002-03; Rs.200.081 Million in 2003-04, Rs.31.38 Million in 2004-05 and Rs. 38.53 Million for 2005-06. The high figures for the years 2002-03 and 2003-04 drop down to Rs.26.6 million and Rs.27.3 million respectively, if the assets of one MNA, namely Chaudhry Nazir Ahmed Jatt, a PML-Q MNA from Vehari, with net assets worth Rs.59.11 billion for the year 2003-04 which is more than 86 % of the total assets of all the MNAs are disregarded. The total value of the MNAs assets increased by 45 % over the four years.

Average Value of Non-Muslim MNAs Assets

The average value of assets owned by Non-Muslim MNAs (Rs. 18 Million) is 53 % lower than the overall average (Rs. 38 Million), based on 2005-06 figures. The disparity was greater in the previous years.

MNAs from Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) have the highest average value of assets per MNA or, in other words, on the average, an MNA from ICT is the richest followed by MNA from Punjab, FATA, Balochistan, Sindh and NWFP.

percentage of the Total Assets In terms of percentage share of the combined value of assets, Punjab tops the list with 73 % of the combined assets which is far greater than warranted by their number (54 %) in the National Assembly. This means that in terms of the collective wealth of MNAs, Punjab is the richest province / territory followed by Sindh (11 %), Balochistan (4 %), NWFP (4 %), ICT (5 %) and FATA (3 %).

Analysing MNAs assets on the basis of their party affiliation, Tehreek-e-Insaf tops the list in terms of average wealth of its MNAs as its lone MNA, Imran Khan, holds the highest assets (Rs.82 Million in 2005-06) followed by PML-N (Average Assets per MNA: Rs. 61 Million), PML-Q (Average Assets per MNA: Rs. 56 Million) and PPPP (Average Assets per MNA: Rs. 34 Million). MMA stands at 6th (Average Assets per MNA: Rs. 16 Million), MQM at 9th (Average Assets per MNA: Rs. 4 Million) and Pakhtun Khawa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) at 10th (Average Assets per MNA: Rs. 0.3 Million) position.

Khurshid Kasuri, Shaukat Aziz and Mian Aslam are the three Richest MNAs According to the latest declaration of Assets for 45%5-06, the richest MNA is Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri, the current Foreign Minister with total assets of Rs. 976 Million; followed by his boss, Mr. Shaukat Aziz, the Prime Minister with total assets of Rs. 554 Million. Mian Muhammad Aslam (NA 48 Islamabad I, MMA) with assets amounting to Rs. 470 Million is at the third position followed by Mr. Jehangir Khan Tareen (NA 195 Rahimyar Khan IV, Punjab, PML-Q), the Minister for Industries with total assets of Rs.453 Million at the fourth position and Mr. Aijaz Ahmed Chaudhry (NA 108 Mandi Bahauddin I, Punjab, PML-Q) with assets worth Rs. 388 Million at the fifth position. One MNA, Mr. Nazir Ahmed Jatt (NA-167 Vehari-I, Punjab, PML-Q) owned assets worth Rs.59 billion in year 45%2-03 which was around 86 % of the combined value of assets of all MNAs. The value of his assets remained almost unchanged between 45%2-03 and 45%3-04. He was the richest MNA for the first two years of the National Assembly. However, his reported assets have reduced considerably after 45%3-04. The former richest MNA, Mr. Nazir Jatt runs a construction business in Saudi Arabia. Four out of the five richest MNAs belong to Punjab and the ruling PML-Q; One belongs to Islamabad and is a part of MMA. It is worth noting that these assets represent the assets owned by the MNAs and their immediate families including the spouses.

The Poorest MNAs

Ms. Naheed Khan (NA 292 Women Punjab, PPPP) has been consistently one of the five poorest MNAs during the last four years. She was the poorest MNA during 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 with net liabilities of Rs. 7.6 Million, Rs. 9.48 Million and Rs. 11.36 Million respectively. Based on the assets declarations of 2005-06, Maulana Noor Mohammad (NA 259 Quetta, Balochistan, MMA), Mr. Shabir Hussain Awan (NA 4 Peshawar IV, NWFP, MMA), Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed (NA 139 Kasur II, Punjab, PPPP) and Mufti Abrar Sultan (NA 14, Kohat, MMA) are the second, third, fourth and the fifth poorest MNAs respectively. Two each of the poorest MNAs belong to Punjab and NWFP and one to Balochistan. Party-wise; two belong to PPPP and three to MMA. In 2002-03, the poorest MNA was Mr. Amir Muqam (NA 31 Shangla, NWFP, MMA and later joined PML-Q), the current Minister of State for Water and Power who had net liabilities of Rs.106 Million. During 2003-04, however, his financial position considerably improved with net assets of Rs. 48.9 Million.

In Balochistan, Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan Nasir (NA 263, PML-N), Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind (NA 267, PML-Q) and Ms. Zobaida Jalal (NA 272, PML-Q) are the three richest MNAs in descending order. Maulana Noor Muhammad, Imrana Khawar (NA 331, MMA) and Mahmood Khan Achakzai (NA 262, PKMAP) are the three poorest MNAs of Balochistan. Mir Zafarullah Jamali (NA 266, PML-Q), the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, was one of the three poorest MNAs of Balochistan in 2002-03.

In NWFP, Ms. Zeb Gohar Ayub (NA 322, PML-Q), Maulvi Abdul Haleem (NA 23, MMA) and Mr. Amir Muqam (NA 31, PML-Q) are the three richest MNAs in descending order. Amir Muqam was the poorest MNA in the country in 2002-03. Sabir Hussain Awan (NA 4, MMA), Mufti Abrar Sultan (NA 14, MMA) and Maulana Muhammad Qasim (NA 10, MMA) are the three poorest MNAs of NWFP.

In Punjab, Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri (NA 140, PML-Q), Shaukat Aziz (NA 59, PML-Q) and Jehangir Khan Tareen (NA 195, PML-Q) are the three richest MNAs in descending order. Ms. Naheed Khan (NA 292, PPPP), Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed (NA 139, PPPP) and Khurram Munawar Munj (NA 134, PML-Q) are the three poorest MNAs of Punjab.

In Sindh, Ms. Sherry Rehman (NA 309, PPPP), Makhdoom Amin Fahim (NA 218, PPPP) and Khalid Ahmed Lund (NA 200, PML-Q) are the three richest MNAs in descending order. Ms. Ruqia Khanum Soomro (NA 310, PPPP), Abdul Waseem (NA 243, MQM) and Khurshid Afghan (NA 321, PML-F) are the three poorest MNAs of Sindh.

Ms. Sherry Rehman (NA 309, Sindh, PPPP) is the richest female MNA, followed by Ms. Tahira Asif (NA 291, Punjab, PML-Q) and Ms. Tanzeela Amir Cheema (NA 275, Punjab, PML-Q). During the previous three years, Ms. Rubina Saadat Qaimkhani (NA 312, Sindh, PPPP), Begum Ishrat Ashraf (NA 303, Punjab, PML-N), Ms. Yasmeen Rehman (NA 297, Punjab, PPPP), Ms. Sumera Malik (NA 69, Punjab, PML-Q), Ms. Belum Hussain (NA 293, Punjab, PPPP), Ms. Tehmina Daultana (NA 304, Punjab, PML-N) had been among the three richest female MNAs.

Within PPPP, Ms. Sherry Rehman, Ghulam Murtaza Satti and Makhdoom Amin Fahim are ranked as the three richest MNAs in descending order. During the previous years, Ms. Rubina Saadat Qaimkhani, Ms. Yasmeen Rehman, Ms. Belum Hussain, Aitzaz Ahsan, and Ms. Samina Khalid Ghurki were among the three richest MNAs of the party. Ms. Naheed Khan is the poorest MNA among PPPP MNAs followed by Ms. Ruqia Khanum Soomro and Zummrad Khan. These three MNAs alongwith Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmad were among the poorest MNAs of the party in the previous years.

PML-Q MNAs

In PML-Q, Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri, Shaukat Aziz and Jehangir Tareen are the three richest MNAs. In the past, Nazir Ahmed Jatt and Aijaz Ahmed Chaudhry had also been a part of the elite club. Khurram Munawar Manj (NA 134 Punjab) is the poorest MNA among PML-Q MNAs followed by Ms. Riffat Amjad (NA 279 Punjab) and Dr. Rozina Tufail (NA 290 Punjab). In previous years, Ms. Onaza Ehsan (NA 288 Punjab) and Sardar Shahjehan Yousaf were also among the three poorest party MNAs.

Within MMA, Mian Muhammad Aslam (NA 48, Islamabad), Maulvi Abdul Haleem (NA 23, NWFP) and Sahabzada Abulkhair Muhammad Zubair (NA 220, Sindh) are ranked as the three richest MNAs in descending order. During the previous years, Ms. Ambreen Naeem (NA 327, NWFP), Qazi Hussain Ahmed (NA 5, NWFP) and Naseeb Ali Shah (NA 26, NWFP) were among the three richest MNAs of the party. Maulana Noor Mohammad (NA 259, Balochistan), Sabir Hussain Awan (NA 4, NWFP) and Mufti Abrar Sultan (NA 14, NWFP) are the three poorest MNAs of MMA. In previous years, Maulana Amanullah (NA 27, NWFP), Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz (NA 15, NWFP), Qazi Hameedullah (NA 96, Punjab), Muhammad Khan Sheerani (NA 264, Balochistan), Maulana Muhammad Qasim (NA 10, NWFP), Shah Abdul Aziz (NA 15, NWFP) and Ms. Inayat Begum (NA 328, NWFP) were also among the three poorest party MNAs.

Dr. Sher Afgan Niazi, the federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, proved to be the most effective asset manager over the four years as his net assets (Rs. 500) in 2002-03 increased by over 900 times to Rs. 456, 550. Amir Muqam, the current Federal Minister of State for Water and Power and provincial President of PML-Q in NWFP, made the most dramatic turn around by turning his net liabilities of Rs. 106 Million in 2002-03 into net assets of Rs. 74 Million in 2005-06. Among the other top asset managers are Makhdoom Amin Faheem (NA-218, Hyderabad-I, Sindh, PPPP) and Dr. Attiya Inayatullah, (NA-280, Women Punjab-VIII, PML-Q).

Fortunes of Khawaja Muhammad Asif (NA 110, PML-N) went down drastically during the past four years. His net assets reduced from Rs. 30 Million to Rs. 650, 000, representing a decrease of the order of 46 to 1. Assets of Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed (NA 139, PPPP) dwindled to the order of 65 to 1 as his net assets of Rs. 4.21 Million in 2002-03 reduced to Rs. 65 000 in 2005-06. Ms. Rubina Saadat Qaimkhani�s assets reduced to the order of 87 to 1 as her net assets of Rs. 2277 Million in 2002-03 decreased to Rs. 26 Million in 2005-06. Nazir Jatt�s assets went down to the order of 679 to 1 as the value of his net assets in 2002-03 was reduced from Rs. 59, 107 Million to Rs. 87 Million in 2005-06.

121 MNAs (Which corresponds to 36 % of the total MNAs) declared in 2005-06 that they or their families did not own a car. 92 (27 %) MNAs declared in the same year that they or their families did not own a house.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has most of his assets outside Pakistan. Based on the original cost of the Assets, 93 % (Worth Rs. 187 Million) of his total assets are located outside Pakistan. Based on the present value of the assets, 73 % (Worth 407 Million) of his assets are located outside Pakistan in the US and UK. In any case, the bulk of his assets lie outside Pakistan.

PILDAT emphasized that MNAs have set a good example of transparency by declaring their assets. It recommended that the Election Commission of Pakistan should have the professional capacity to analyse these Assets Declarations. It also suggested that the assets declarations of other members of the society such as top civil and military officials should also be published and made public in the interest of transparency.