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Posted 02 March 2013 - 11:06 AM
Rehman Malik: national embarrassment or treasure
From the Newspaper | Jon Boone | 18 hours ago 0
Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior, Rehman Malik. — File photo
ISLAMABAD: In a country where 2,050 people were killed last year in more than 1,500 bombings and terror attacks, few people would dare describe Pakistan’s struggle against a dizzying array of militant groups, separatist insurgents and powerful crime syndicates as a roaring success.
Yet its colourful interior minister, a man described by one commentator as Pakistan’s answer to London’s mayor Boris Johnson – a hugely famous politician who not everyone takes seriously – does just that.
“We have given a good beating to the terrorist,” Rehman Malik, 61, told the Guardian in December. “We have been able to break their back, we are in a position now to fight, to fight and fight.”
It is the sort of statement his detractors say blithely ignores reality, but that has also helped turn the career bureaucrat into one of the country’s best known politicians.
Whether or not the public believes domestic security has improved will be a key issue as the Pakistan People’s party (PPP) prepares to face the electorate in a few months’ time.
Critics say the government’s poor record on basic competence issues is epitomised by Malik, who many feel owes his position more to his usefulness as a master of political dealing rather than any great ability to administer internal security.
For many Pakistanis the interior minister, with his designer ties and purple-hued hair, is the face of the government: he is the only senior member of the bloated federal cabinet to have remained in post for the entire time the PPP has been in power, eclipsing even the prime minister.
He has found fame through his almost daily television appearances, usually made at the scene of the sort of catastrophic attacks that would end the career of a home secretary.
Everyone has a favourite Malik moment. For some it was when he said a spate of sectarian murders in Karachi was the handiwork of angry wives and girlfriends. Or there was the press conference in 2011 when he revealed to a country still reeling from a brazen Taliban attack on an important naval base in Karachi that the militant assault squad were “wearing black clothes like in Star Wars movies”.
An important trip to India in December produced a crop of gaffes that prompted fury in the Indian media. “The best thing would be to put Scotch Tape on his mouth to stop him talking,” said one former Pakistani diplomat, who claims to be a long-standing friend of the minister.
“Malik has his own irrepressible style of expressing himself, which may not be one of the most sophisticated in the world, but I think serious, sober Indians understood that.”
EMBARRASSMENT OR TREASURE: Malik’s status at home – somewhere between national embarrassment and national treasure – seems secure, however. “People love him,” said Murtaza Chaudhry, producer and host of the news comedy show Banana News Network (BNN) in which an actor playing Malik regularly lampoons the minister. “He is by far the most favourite character with the viewers.”
Recently his character was shown proudly presenting a flimsy construction of cupboard boxes that he boasted was of his own design, cost “only $60,000” and could protect the public from explosions.
Malik, who seems to relish the limelight, says he enjoys watching the comedy shows. He says there is no point complaining, or challenging reports of his many famous statements, which he says are always “twisted” by the media.
However, Chaudhry said that BNN had received a 10-page letter from Malik’s lawyer objecting to the mockery.
Malik’s defenders say he is much more capable and intelligent than his public personality suggests. “To some extent it’s just a ploy to disarm everyone,” said Mehmal Sarfraz, a Lahore-based journalist who credits the minister with successfully countering some threats in areas where civilian rulers have influence (many Pakistanis believe only the country’s powerful military has the ability to tackle militancy).
“Half the time he doesn’t believe what he is saying is true, he’s just saying what he thinks the public wants to hear.”
But critics find the buffoonery far from amusing. “He makes these statements which never make any sense, so no one can take him seriously,” said Aftab Sherpao, a former interior minister who was once a leading PPP figure. “When he gets up in parliament people just mock him – they laugh and jeer him.”
One analyst suggests the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is the nearest equivalent politician in the West because he is “kind of goofy, kind of silly but people like him”.
Malik thinks he is more of a Mandelson, a Churchill, or a Miliband (“the one who was British secretary of state, not the present one”). “But I would not want to be compared to any of these people,” he said after reeling off more names, including a US president. “I consider myself a worker, a party worker – that is all.”
Despite his protestations of humbleness, the elected senator has achieved a remarkable, and to many perplexing, level of power in government. Neither a lifelong politician nor a member of the landed gentry, he rose from within the bureaucracy despite being what one commentator called a “lower-middle class outsider”.
His break came in the 1990s when he was spotted by Benazir Bhutto. At the time she was PPP leader and in her second term as prime minister and he was an official at the Federal Investigation Agency.
POLITICAL FIXER: He made himself an indispensable political fixer, particularly when Bhutto was living in exile in London in the late 1990s (until recently Malik was a British citizen and still has family and major business interests in the UK).
His influence over President Asif Ali Zardari is less clear. Some believe Malik has potentially damaging information about the business activities of a couple who have faced a number of overseas legal cases and investigations into major corruption allegations.
Cynics say his job is not to grapple with crime and terrorism, or reform the country’s dysfunctional interior ministry, but to help Zardari do whatever it takes to hold together his fragile governing coalition.
Malik is regularly dispatched to Karachi to smooth things over with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement whenever the party flexes its muscles.
On Jan 2 he even shuttled to London for a last-minute meeting with Muttahida supremo Altaf Hussain after he announced his party would participate in the anti-corruption protests in Islamabad orchestrated by Tahir-ul-Qadri. “As far as Altaf Hussain is concerned, Malik is just an errand boy,” said Aftab Sherpao.
Nonetheless, it will be on domestic security – as well as the dire state of Pakistan’s economy – on which the public are likely to make their judgment in the coming months.
According to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, the level of violence has dropped since the government came to power in 2008. But the past few weeks have seen an attack on a major airport, the assassination of leading politicians, and the kidnapping by the Taliban of 23 tribal policemen – 21 of whom were lined up on a cricket pitch and killed.
Although sectarian attacks remain a huge problem, claiming 537 lives last year and injuring many more, Rehman Malik takes credit for “creating harmony between Sunnis and Shias”.
“In my five years there is hardly killing, mass killing, of Sunnis and Shias,” he said, weeks before two dreadful mass-casualty attacks on Hazara Shias in Quetta this year that claimed almost 200 lives. He says his strategy of “psy-war” – making sure the security forces have “a good backing and personal patting” – is paying off.
“It is important because your people are demoralised in war, you have to give them hope,” he said. “Wherever there is someone killed you must have seen I’m going to the field, in minutes I am there on the scene, supervising the whole situation.”
He has upset people with his enthusiasm for shutting mobile phone networks in major cities at short notice in an attempt to thwart terror plots; although the tactic seems to work.
In September he pushed for a national “Love of the Holy Prophet” day in response to public anger over a crude YouTube video that mocked Islam. What was meant to be a peaceful day of protest was taken as a state-sponsored opportunity for deadly rioting by religious extremists.
One diplomat, who was on “lockdown” as teargas drifted across the embassy walls from pitched battles between demonstrators and police outside Islamabad’s embassy quarter, recalls being phoned by a delighted Malik reporting how well he thought it was all going.
“I let them protest, but from a certain point I will not let them go further,” Malik said. “I ordered the [teargas] shelling. Had I not been there they had full programme to barge in [to the diplomatic enclave].”
BNN is working on a special series dedicated just to Malik, who will appear as a caped superhero. In Chaudhry’s favourite scene, Malik will be seen rushing into a burning building – but only to rescue a dog.
In the background people throw themselves from windows to escape the inferno as Malik delivers his catchphrase to the waiting TV crews: “Everything is under control.”
By arrangement with the Guardian
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
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Posted 02 March 2013 - 11:20 AM
Nawaz Sharif’s Corruption highlighted in Raymond Baker’s book on Dirty Money
Raymond Baker in his book Capitalism’s Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free-Market System tried to understand the dynamics of how dirty money works.
Corruption and criminality run from the top down, with the political class constantly looting the national treasury and distorting economic policy for personal gain. Bank loans are granted largely on the basis of status and connections. The rich stash much of their money abroad in those willing western coffers, while exhibiting little inclination to repay their rupee borrowings. Pakistan’s recent history has been dominated by two families—the Bhuttos and the Sharifs—both merely tolerated by the military, the real power in the country. When it comes to economic destruction, there’s not a lot of difference among the three.
Pages 82-85 of the book cover the section on Nawaz Sharif: While Benazir Bhutto hated the generals for executing her father, Nawaz Sharif early on figured out that they held the real power in Pakistan. His father had established a foundry in 1939 and, together with six brothers, had struggled for years only to see their business nationalized by Ali Bhutto’s regime in 1972. This sealed decades of enmity between the Bhuttos and the Sharifs. Following the military coup and General Zia’s assumption of power, the business—Ittefaq—was returned to family hands in 1980.Nawaz Sharif became a director and cultivated relations with senior military officers. This led to his appointment as finance minister of Punjab and then election as chief minister of this most populous province in 1985. During the 1980s and early 1990s, given Sharif ’s political control of Punjab and eventual prime ministership of the country, Ittefaq Industries grew from its original single foundry into 30 businesses producing steel, sugar, paper, and textiles, with combined revenues of $400 million, making it one of the biggest private conglomerates in the nation. As in many other countries, when you control the political realm, you can get anything you want in the economic realm.
With Lahore, the capital of Punjab, serving as the seat of the family’s power, one of the first things Sharif did upon becoming prime minister in 1990 was build his long-dreamed-of superhighway from there to the capital,Islamabad. Estimated to cost 8.5 billion rupees, the project went through two biddings. Daewoo of Korea, strengthening its proposals with midnight meetings, was the highest bidder both times, so obviously it won the contract and delivered the job at well over 20 billion rupees.
A new highway needs new cars. Sharif authorized importation of 50,000 vehicles duty free, reportedly costing the government $700 million in lost customs duties. Banks were forced to make loans for vehicle purchases to would-be taxi cab drivers upon receipt of a 10 percent deposit.Borrowers got their “Nawaz Sharif cabs,” and some 60 percent of them promptly defaulted. This left the banks with $500 million or so in unpaid loans. Vehicle dealers reportedly made a killing and expressed their appreciation in expected ways. Under Sharif, unpaid bank loans and massive tax evasion remained the favorite ways to get rich. Upon his loss of power the usurping government published a list of 322 of the largest loan defaulters, representing almost $3 billion out of $4 billion owed to banks. Sharif and his family were tagged for $60 million. The Ittefaq Group went bankrupt in 1993 when Sharif lost his premiership the first time. By then only three units in the group were operational, and loan defaults of the remaining companies totaled some 5.7 billion rupees, more than $100 million.
Like Bhutto, offshore companies have been linked to Sharif, three in the British Virgin Islands by the names of Nescoll, Nielson, and Shamrock and another in the Channel Islands known as Chandron Jersey Pvt. Ltd. Some of these entities allegedly were used to facilitate purchase of four rather grand flats on Park Lane in London, at various times occupied by Sharif family members. Reportedly, payment transfers were made to Banque Paribas en Suisse, which then instructed Sharif ’s offshore companies Nescoll and Nielson to purchase the four luxury suites.
In her second term, Benazir Bhutto had Pakistan’s Federal Investigating Agency begin a probe into the financial affairs of Nawaz Sharif and his family. The probe was headed by Rehman Malik, deputy director general of the agency. Malik had fortified his reputation earlier by aiding in the arrest of Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. During Sharif ’s second term, the draft report of the investigation was suppressed, Malik was jailed for a year, and later reportedly survived an assassination attempt, after which he fled to London. The Malik report, five years in the making, was released in 1998, with explosive revelations:
The records, including government documents, signed affidavits from Pakistani officials, bank files and property records, detail deals that Mr. Malik says benefited Mr. Sharif, his family and his political associates:
At least $160 million pocketed from a contract to build a highway from Lahore, his home town, to Islamabad, the nation’s capital.
At least $140 million in unsecured loans from Pakistan’s state banks.
More than $60 million generated from government rebates on sugar exported by millscontrolled by Mr. Sharif and his business associates.
At least $58 million skimmed from inflated prices paid for imported wheat from the United States and Canada. In the wheat deal, Mr. Sharif ’s government paid prices far above market value to a private company owned by a close associate of his in Washington, the records show. Falsely inflated invoices for the wheat generated tens of millions of dollars in cash.
The report went on to state that “The extent and magnitude of this corruption is so staggering that it has put the very integrity of the country at stake.” In an interview, Malik added: “No other leader of Pakistan has taken that much money from the banks. There is no rule of law in Pakistan. It doesn’t exist.”
What brought Sharif down in his second term was his attempt to acquire virtually dictatorial powers. In 1997 he rammed a bill through his compliant parliament requiring legislators to vote as their party leaders directed. In 1998 he introduced a bill to impose Sharia law (Muslim religious law) across Pakistan, with himself empowered to issue unilateral directives in the name of Islam. In 1999 he sought to sideline the army by replacing Chief of Staff Pervez Musharraf with a more pliable crony. He forgot the lessons he had learned in the 1980s: The army controls Pakistan and politicians are a nuisance. As Musharraf was returning from Sri Lanka, Sharif tried to sack him in midair and deny the Pakistan International Airways flight with 200 civilians on board landing rights in Karachi. Musharraf radioed from the aircraft through Dubai to his commander in Karachi, ordering him to seize the airport control tower, accomplished as the plane descended almost out of fuel. Musharraf turned the tables and completed his coup, and Sharif was jailed.
But Sharif had little to fear. This, after all, is Pakistan. Musharraf needed to consolidate his power with the generals, and Sharif knew details about the corruption of most of the brass. Obviously, it is better to tread lightly around the edges of your peer group’s own thievery. So Musharraf had Sharif probed, tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison, but then in 2000 exiled him to Saudi Arabia.Twenty-two containers of carpets and furniture followed, and, of course, his foreign accounts remained mostly intact. Ensconced in a glittering palace in Jeddah, he is described as looking “corpulent” amidst “opulent” surroundings. Reportedly, he and Benazir Bhutto even have an occasional telephone conversation, perhaps together lamenting how unfair life has become.
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
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Posted 02 March 2013 - 11:29 AM
Profile: Asif Ali Zardari
Mr Zardari's mercurial career has taken many dramatic turns
Asif Ali Zardari is one of Pakistan's most controversial political figures who has survived a series of personal and political setbacks to gain the presidency.
Since taking the helm in September 2008, Mr Zardari has presided over an increasingly fragile country, a growing militant threat, a turbulent relationship with the US, declining relations with the military, nationwide flooding, and possible economic meltdown.
In May 2011 he had to cope with the fall-out in Pakistan of the killing by US special forces of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in the town of Abbottabad.
Recriminations over the killings reflected the traditionally poor relations between his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the army as well as tenser relations with Washington, already strained because of continued US drone strikes against militant targets in the north-west of his country.
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“
Start Quote
Despite his failings, he always stood by his family no matter what”
Benazir Bhutto
Talking about her husband Asif Ali Zardari in 2004
Mr Zardari did not use the fall-out from Bin Laden's death to introduce changes to the military, although correspondents say he is known to be uneasy about the role it and Pakistan's intelligence service play in the governance of the country.
During his period in power, Pakistan has been hit by numerous suicide bombings - some directed against military and political targets and some more sectarian in nature.
Among the many opponents ranged against him are some of the country's most popular politicians, including former PM Nawaz Sharif and more recently former cricketer and Movement for Justice party leader Imran Khan.
Both have been critical of president Zardari's support for the US and Nato in the battle against Taliban militants in Afghanistan.
Controversial memo
Mr Zardari's mercurial career has taken many a dramatic turn since his marriage in December 1987 to the charismatic former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Mr Zardari is accused of abandoning his country on a trip to Europe at the height of flooding in 2010
He was thrust into the centre of politics when Ms Bhutto was assassinated 20 years later.
Since then and now his career has veered from being imprisoned for corruption - complaining that he was tortured when behind bars - to taking the country's top job by leading the PPP to victory in general elections.
Perhaps the high point of his political life came in 2008 when he played a pivotal role with former political enemies to force President Pervez Musharraf to resign.
But he has also been the subject of unfavourable scrutiny and in 2010 he was widely criticised for visiting Europe at the height of some of the worst floods to hit Pakistan in recent years.
He has also been forced to concede some of his presidential powers to the judiciary and to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
In November 2011 he was dealt another blow by the resignation of Pakistan's ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani.
Both Mr Haqqani and the president were accused of drafting a controversial memo in which they allegedly sought US military help against a possible military coup in Pakistan. They deny the charges.
Prison sentences
But his political struggles today are still a far cry from the period before Ms Bhutto's death, when Mr Zardari's public image was so bad that the PPP kept him out of the public eye as much as possible during the campaigning for national elections in February 2008.
Mr Zardari claimed that he was tortured while in prison in 1999
Mr Zardari was seen then as a political liability.
He spent several years in jail on charges of corruption. He was labelled "Mr 10%".
He found himself in major trouble in 1990 when he was accused, among other things, of tying a remote-controlled bomb to the leg of a businessman and sending him into a bank to withdraw money from his account as a pay-off.
Those charges were never proved. The PPP had then accused the country's powerful intelligence apparatus of maligning Mr Zardari to damage Ms Bhutto's image.
In 1993, when then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan sacked the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Mr Zardari was escorted from the prison straight to the presidency where he was sworn in as a minister in the interim government.
Later, when the PPP won the 1993 elections, Mr Zardari moved with his wife to the Prime Minister's House in Islamabad where he lived for the next three years.
In 1996, when another president sacked the PPP government, he was arrested and charged with a number of offences including the murder of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, his wife's brother.
He was later charged, along with his wife, and convicted in a kickbacks scam involving a Swiss company, SGS.
But a mistrial was declared by Pakistan's Supreme Court following a major scandal involving the accountability bureau and the judge who had issued the verdict.
His last prison sentence lasted eight years until 2004, during which time he says he was tortured.
It ended as the then General Musharraf was engaged in protracted negotiations with Benazir Bhutto, then in self-imposed exile, for some form of political reconciliation.
'Personal bravery'
Mr Zardari resolutely stood by his party as well as his wife - although at times he disagreed with the politics of both.
Benazir Bhutto's death propelled Mr Zardari on to centre stage
His friends say this was entirely in character and that no-one can deny his personal courage.
A close friend recounts an incident in the 1980s when as a horse-riding bachelor he personally rescued the daughter of a German diplomat who had fallen into a bog with her horse.
Asif Ali Zardari was born in Karachi to Hakim Ali Zardari, head of one of the "lesser" Sindhi tribes, who chose the urban life over rustic surroundings.
He grew up in Karachi and was educated at St Patrick's School - also the alma mater of Pervez Musharraf.
The young Zardari's main claim to fame was that he had a private disco at home, helping him gain the reputation as a "playboy".
After his release from prison in 2004, Mr Zardari kept a low profile, undergoing medical treatment in the US.
In addition to his heart problems he is reported to suffer from diabetes and a spinal ailment - which sometimes prevent him from easily moving around.
Ms Bhutto appreciated her husband's loyalty, saying that "despite his failings, he always stood by his family no matter what".
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
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Posted 02 March 2013 - 11:33 AM
Profile: Raja Pervez Ashraf
Mr Ashraf has faced corruption allegations for years
Most observers predicted that Raja Pervez Ashraf's term as Pakistan's prime minister would be a troubled one when he replaced Yousuf Raza Gilani in June 2012.
His task was to lead the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) into general elections, now due in May, at a time when the civilian government, the judiciary and the powerful military were at loggerheads.
Before then he faces a court battle over corruption charges after a warrant for his arrest was issued on 15 January.
Like many Pakistani politicians Mr Ashraf is dogged by allegations of corruption, which is endemic in the country.
Critics call him "Raja Rental" because of the kickbacks he is alleged to have taken while water and power minister, a post he left in 2011. He denies the claims.
Political family
Mr Ashraf is a senior figure in the party and has twice been a minister in the PPP-led government, which has been in power since 2008.
He comes from the town of Gujjar Khan, about an hour's drive from the capital, Islamabad.
But his parents owned agricultural land in the town of Sanghar in the southern province of Sindh, where he was born in 1950. He graduated from Sindh University in 1970.
He speaks fluent Sindhi, considering himself half Sindhi, and has gelled well with the predominantly Sindhi leadership of the PPP.
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Raja Pervez Ashraf
Born in 1950, Raja Pervez Ashraf comes from a land-owning political family with strong connections to Sindh province
He has been active in national politics since 1988 but lost repeated parliamentary elections until the 2002 and 2008 polls
Since 2008 he has served as both water and power minister and information technology minister
But his time as water and power minister was dogged by power cuts and controversy over a power generation scheme
He denies charges of kickbacks but investigations are ongoing
He comes from a political family. One of his uncles served as a minister in the cabinet of military ruler, Ayub Khan, in the 1960s.
After completing his education, Mr Ashraf moved back to Gujjar Khan and tried to set up a shoe factory with his brothers. The business did not do well, and he shifted to property and that business is said to have flourished.
He has been active in national politics since 1988, and has acted as an important contact point for the PPP leadership in the Rawalpindi region, where Gujjar Khan is located.
He contested but lost parliamentary elections in 1990, 1993 and 1997, but won in 2002 and 2008.
In 2008, he was sworn in as water and power minister in the cabinet of Mr Gilani.
He presided over controversial deals under the Rental Power Projects (RPP) scheme, which was aimed at boosting electricity generation at a time when power cuts were becoming frequent.
His repeated promises to end power shortages remained unfulfilled, and were made the butt of jokes in the Pakistani media.
Subsequently, charges of kickbacks were brought against him and others in the RPP deals. He denies those charges, although an investigation by the National Accountability (NAB) is still continuing.
Die-hard loyalist?
Due to all the negative publicity he attracted, he was dropped from the cabinet in a reshuffle in February 2011, although he returned some months later as minister for information technology.
After his nomination as the next prime minister became apparent, the country's largest English language daily, Dawn, referred to him in a banner headline as "Rental Raja", a reference to his apparent failures as the power minister.
But the investigation into the power projects has not been his only challenge as prime minister.
The Supreme Court has been pressing the government to ask the Swiss authorities to reopen a corruption case against President Asif Zardari.
It was Mr Gilani's failure to abide by the court's wishes that led to his disqualification.
Mr Ashraf's government chose to comply with the court order and wrote to the Swiss authorities in November, withdrawing a 2007 request for investigations into Mr Zardari to be halted. But it remains unclear whether the case against Mr Zardari will be reopened by Switzerland.
Mr Ashraf may have given ground in that battle, and how he responds to the arrest order remains to be seen - but he is likely to put up a fight.
Correspondents say the general belief is that President Zardari would never choose a person for the top government slot who was not a die-hard PPP loyalist.
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
#5
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Posted 02 March 2013 - 11:45 AM
Profile: Yousuf Raza Gilani
Mr Gilani has a reputation for anti-establishment politics and leadership
Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has proved himself to be a wily and resilient political operator who up until June 2012 had persistently defied his critics and the might of the judiciary to cling onto his job.
But it appears that defiance has finally came to an end with his shock disqualification from office by Pakistan's Supreme Court.
Its announcement came two months after it convicted the premier of contempt because of his refusal to ask Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
Mr Gilani's strategy of not appealing against his conviction so as not to antagonise the court appears to have failed.
His determination to stand up for himself helped Mr Gilani grow in stature in the eyes of many Pakistanis.
He became the longest-serving prime minister in the history of Pakistan, where civilian governments have been repeatedly overthrown by the powerful military, often with the support of the Supreme Court.
When he was appointed to the job in March 2008 many commentators did not expect his tenure would be long. But he repeatedly rose to the challenge and fended off his critics.
In April 2012, Mr Gilani seemed in a stronger position than at any point during his confrontation with the Supreme Court.
Although he was found guilty of contempt, the court gave him only a symbolic sentence and he did not have to serve any time in jail. The prime minister had argued that the president, who rejects the charges, had immunity as head of state.
In April, the court in effect backed down from its efforts to remove the elected prime minister, and its symbolic judgement and token sentence were seen as something of a personal victory for Mr Gilani - the judiciary, the army and the opposition had apparently failed in their efforts to remove him.
It is not clear whether Mr Gilani will now try to appeal against his disqualification. The ruling Pakistan People's Party should have the necessary majority in parliament to elect a new prime minister.
In spite of his conviction, Mr Gilani emerged from his trial with his reputation enhanced, having succeeded in portraying himself as a man defending democracy in the face of a politically motivated campaign against him and his government.
Throughout his time in office it was clear that whatever the criticisms levelled at him - from poor governance to corruption - no party wanted to be seen as the one to bring down yet another elected government in Pakistan.
Supporters said that his long period as PM reflected Mr Gilani's sound political judgement and staying power.
He refrained from followed the bidding of former President Pervez Musharraf, despite heavy pressure by his government to coerce him into joining many of his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) colleagues in switching sides.
Mr Gilani's refusal to do a deal with Mr Musharraf is much admired within his party.
He went to jail in 2001, serving five years following a conviction over illegal government appointments that were alleged to have taken place during his term as Speaker of parliament between 1993-96.
A tall, softly-spoken man with an air of authority, he has acquired a reputation for doing the right thing.
Political family
Mr Gilani grew stronger the longer he was in his job
Yousuf Raza Gilani was born on 9 June 1952 in Karachi in the southern province of Sindh, but his family comes from Punjab.
The Gilanis are among the most prominent of landowners and spiritual leaders in the south of Punjab province. Their home town is the ancient city of Multan.
The family's prominence naturally led to its members vying for political power.
Mr Gilani's grandfather and great-uncles joined the All India Muslim League and were signatories of the 1940 Pakistan resolution. This was the declaration which eventually led to partition.
His father, Alamdar Hussain Gilani, served as a provincial minister in the 1950s.
Mr Gilani joined up in 1978 when he became a member of the Muslim League's central leadership.
This was soon after he completed his MA in journalism at the University of Punjab. His first term as a public servant was as a nominee of General Zia-ul-Haq.
The then Pakistan army chief had been the country's dictator since overthrowing elected Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in a 1977 coup.
Mr Bhutto was executed in 1979, an act that forever soured the relationship between the army and the PPP.
Figurehead
Mr Gilani joined Mr Bhutto's PPP in 1988, months before Gen Zia's death brought an end to its political exile.
Observers say it is his loyalty and his disdain for politicking within the party that earned him the nomination for prime minister.
"[Mr Gilani] was perhaps the only man among the top leadership who did not badger Zardari for this or any other position," says one PPP insider. "This along with the fact of his proven loyalty, earned him the nod."
But it was his independent thinking that won him many admirers after taking over as the country's chief executive.
Correspondents say his first few months were uncomfortable, with many doubting whether he had the charisma and standing to lead the country.
This feeling was strengthened when Mr Zardari, the PPP chairman, was elected president.
It was felt Mr Zardari would now take a more hands-on approach to government - leaving Mr Gilani as little more than a figurehead.
That did not happen and Mr Gilani grew in stature as his term progressed.
He had to contend with some of the worst crises in Pakistan's history, including extensive flooding, rising Taliban militancy and deteriorating relations with the US after the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
#6
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Posted 05 March 2013 - 08:57 AM
Minister among top electricity bills defaulters
Khaleeq Kiani
ISLAMABAD: A federal minister who once volunteered to ensure recovery of the entire electricity dues from defaulters has turned out to be one of the biggest defaulters and has not paid a single penny on this account over the past 56 months.
But unlike other domestic consumers who face disconnection if they do not pay their electricity bills on time, this gentleman who lives in the ‘Ministers’ Enclave’ continues to enjoy uninterrupted power supply.
According to electricity bills issued by the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco), Interior Minister Rehman Malik tops the list of federal ministers who have failed to clear their dues with amounting to Rs4.9 million. He has not paid his bills since moving to House 34 in the capital’s Ministers’ Enclave.
Till Feb 13 this year, arrears against his official residence stood at Rs4.75 million. His monthly bill for February alone is Rs153,788 which also is unpaid. The outstanding amount increased to Rs4.92 million which included a Rs12,000 late payment surcharge.
Under perks and privileges enjoyed by federal ministers and advisers, the federal government provides a monthly allowance of Rs24,000 and any excess has to be paid by the minister or adviser. But it appears that several ministers take the allowance but do not clear electricity bills.
Mr Malik’s average monthly bill for 56 months works out at about Rs89,000.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the total amount owned by government departments to distribution companies hovers around Rs170 billion.
On June 15, 2012, Mr Malik offered to a nine-member cabinet committee to give him an opportunity to recover all electricity arrears. “Leave it to me, I will sort them (discos) out and correct their system. I will ensure 100 per cent recovery and reduction in load shedding”, he had told the committee headed by then finance minister Hafeez Shaikh.
Perhaps the committee was aware of Mr Malik’s record and, therefore, did not accept his offer.
But Mr Malik is not the only minister among electricity bill defaulters. According to Iesco record, Bangalow-20, the residence of Haji Khuda Bakhsh, Minister for Narcotics Control, has not cleared electricity bills amounting to Rs1.07 million for 49 months.
Minister for Postal Services Umar Gorgeij who lives in House-33 has an outstanding amount of Rs1.96 million and he has not paid the bills for 38 months.
Sardar Bahadur Sher who lives in House-15 owes Rs677,357, but he has been making partial payments.
An amount of Rs587,259 is outstanding against the House No-30 where Mir Hazar Khan Bijrani lives, although he is making partial payments.
Dr Fahmida Mirza, the Speaker of National Assembly, has an outstanding amount of Rs381,266 against her residence No-28. She has not paid her bills for 13 months and made a partial payment of Rs69,227 in June last year.
An amount of Rs369,794 has been outstanding against Residence-19 of Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi for 13 months.
Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin owes Rs271,726 to Iesco and has not made any payment for more than 22 months.
Babar Khan Ghouri of MQM, Syed Naveed Qamar and Dr Asim Hussain are among few ministers who regularly pay their bills.
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
#7
Tipu-786
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Posted 05 March 2013 - 10:04 AM
http://dawn.com/2013...lls-defaulters/
Minister among top electricity bills defaulters
Khaleeq Kiani
ISLAMABAD: A federal minister who once volunteered to ensure recovery of the entire electricity dues from defaulters has turned out to be one of the biggest defaulters and has not paid a single penny on this account over the past 56 months.
But unlike other domestic consumers who face disconnection if they do not pay their electricity bills on time, this gentleman who lives in the ‘Ministers’ Enclave’ continues to enjoy uninterrupted power supply.
According to electricity bills issued by the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco), Interior Minister Rehman Malik tops the list of federal ministers who have failed to clear their dues with amounting to Rs4.9 million. He has not paid his bills since moving to House 34 in the capital’s Ministers’ Enclave.
Till Feb 13 this year, arrears against his official residence stood at Rs4.75 million. His monthly bill for February alone is Rs153,788 which also is unpaid. The outstanding amount increased to Rs4.92 million which included a Rs12,000 late payment surcharge.
Under perks and privileges enjoyed by federal ministers and advisers, the federal government provides a monthly allowance of Rs24,000 and any excess has to be paid by the minister or adviser. But it appears that several ministers take the allowance but do not clear electricity bills.
Mr Malik’s average monthly bill for 56 months works out at about Rs89,000.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the total amount owned by government departments to distribution companies hovers around Rs170 billion.
On June 15, 2012, Mr Malik offered to a nine-member cabinet committee to give him an opportunity to recover all electricity arrears. “Leave it to me, I will sort them (discos) out and correct their system. I will ensure 100 per cent recovery and reduction in load shedding”, he had told the committee headed by then finance minister Hafeez Shaikh.
Perhaps the committee was aware of Mr Malik’s record and, therefore, did not accept his offer.
But Mr Malik is not the only minister among electricity bill defaulters. According to Iesco record, Bangalow-20, the residence of Haji Khuda Bakhsh, Minister for Narcotics Control, has not cleared electricity bills amounting to Rs1.07 million for 49 months.
Minister for Postal Services Umar Gorgeij who lives in House-33 has an outstanding amount of Rs1.96 million and he has not paid the bills for 38 months.
Sardar Bahadur Sher who lives in House-15 owes Rs677,357, but he has been making partial payments.
An amount of Rs587,259 is outstanding against the House No-30 where Mir Hazar Khan Bijrani lives, although he is making partial payments.
Dr Fahmida Mirza, the Speaker of National Assembly, has an outstanding amount of Rs381,266 against her residence No-28. She has not paid her bills for 13 months and made a partial payment of Rs69,227 in June last year.
An amount of Rs369,794 has been outstanding against Residence-19 of Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi for 13 months.
Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin owes Rs271,726 to Iesco and has not made any payment for more than 22 months.
Babar Khan Ghouri of MQM, Syed Naveed Qamar and Dr Asim Hussain are among few ministers who regularly pay their bills.
LOL! Just compare to Toronto Mayor who use the school bus for football team get fired .....
Dedicated to neighboring india specially hindu's :
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAnyRGy2iU4
" World peace solution is to cut India down to size!!"
#8
btruant2002
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Posted 08 March 2013 - 10:55 PM
AJMER: A border dispute and shrine politics is threatening to make Pakistan PM Raja Pervez Ashraf's pilgrimage to Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti's mausoleum bumpy. On Friday, a day before his visit, the shrine's spiritual head said he will boycott the visit to protest beheading of an Indian soldier along the LoC recently, while another group of 'khadims' (caretakers) said the shrine keepers have no business blocking any devotee beckoned by the Garib Nawaz.................
http://timesofindia....ow/18871455.cms
#9
Pak-Son
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Posted 09 March 2013 - 10:28 AM
* PM writes letter to CJP, requests him to take inquiry back from NAB
* Regrets unending smear campaign against him and his family by certain vested interests
By Farooq Awan
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Friday requested Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take back investigation against him in the rental power projects case from NAB and hand over it to a commission headed by Dr Shoaib Suddle, as the court had done in Arsalan Iftikhar case in the recent past.
In a letter to the chief justice, the prime minister regretted that a an unwarranted and unending smear campaign had been unleashed against him and his family by certain vested interests, which had compelled him to make this request.
Raja said he was writing this letter in his capacity both as a citizen of Pakistan and as prime minister.
Following is the text of the letter:
“I am writing to you in my capacity both as a citizen of Pakistan and as prime minister. Throughout my long political career, it has been my endeavour to maintain highest standards of integrity in public service. Yet, in recent years a totally unwarranted and unending smear campaign has been unleashed against me and my family by certain vested interests, which has compelled me to make this request to you.
It is inalienable right of every citizen that no action detrimental to his reputation is taken except in accordance with law, Under the Constitution, not only is dignity of every man inviolable, but all citizens are equal before law and entitled to equal protection of law (Including the law laid down by binding precedent).
Some time ago I appeared before the Honourable Supreme Court to demonstrate publicly that I was not above law. I believe I was duty-bound to assist the Honourable Court in arriving at a fair and just outcome of the proceedings. The Honourable Court passed judgment on 30-03-2012, directing NAB to investigate allegations of corruption arising out of the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) case and bring the culprits to justice.
When NAB opened an inquiry, I fully and whole-heartedly cooperated with the investigation team. I had nothing to hide. Nor had I ever acted while dealing with matters falling within my responsibilities except with total honesty and in good faith. The RPPs policy may not have turned out to be as robust and effective as its planners had expected it to be notwithstanding that it was carried out diligently and in good conscience. I acted in the manner I sincerely believed was in the best interest of Pakistan, in order solve the country’s chronic electricity shortage that was afflicting our people and badly damaging our economy.
With the NAB inquiry getting unduly prolonged and mired in all sorts of controversies, I feel hurt when my reputation and that of my family is continually tarnished by subjective perceptions that I was in any way instrumental in not letting NAB conduct its investigations in a dispassionate, objective and credible manner.
It is also extremely demeaning for the State particularly when I hold such a high office.
More recently, especially following the tragic death of NAB’s Investigation Officer Kamran Faisal, a lingering suspicion has been created that the Government is perhaps exerting undue pressure on NAB in the RPPs case in order to save influential people from possible prosecution. While I have been asking NAB to act fairly, evenly and justly in every case, as per its mandate, and while I will never allow the RPPs inquiry to be unduly interfered with, under any circumstances, I am conscious that no amount of effort on my part will suffice to change the negative image. Simultaneously, I am aware that the Honourable Supreme Court also has, at times, expressed doubts on the competence, fairness and professionalism of NAB.
In order to effectively deal with the allegation that the government is putting pressure on NAB to cause bias to a fair and independent outcome of RPPs inquiry, I consider it expedient that the case be taken away from NAB and given to an independent commission that enjoys confidence of both the Honourable Supreme Court, the public at large and even the parties involved. The Honourable Supreme Court adopted such a course in a recent sensitive case when a one-man commission was constituted under Dr Shoaib Suddle, Federal Tax Ombudsman. Honourable Supreme Court showed confidence in Dr Suddle and I also regard him as an officer with a proven record of competence and impeccable integrity. I believe that with his investigative background/experience he is the right person to independently and impartially examine this matter, without fear or favour.
I therefore request you to establish a Commission headed by Dr Suddle and consisting of any other member(s) the Honourable Supreme Court may like to appoint, to investigate this matter justly, fairly and professionally, and report within a specified timeframe.”
http://www.dailytime...ory_9-3-2013_pg1_1
#10
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Posted 16 March 2013 - 11:19 AM

Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
#11
Felicius
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Posted 30 March 2013 - 08:09 AM
ECP releases assets details of parties, former parliamentarians
Dawn Report
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday released details of assets declared by former parliamentarians, with former National Assembly member Noor Alam Khan being the richest lawmaker having declared assets worth Rs.320 million.
Jamshed Dasti takes the last place, having the least amount of assets, with only his salaried bank account.
According to the details issued by the ECP, former Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf owns assets amounting to Rs.72 million. He owns two cars worth Rs.1.8 million. He will be receiving an additional Rs.8 million which he had loaned to his brother.
Former Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif owns a car worth Rs.20 million gifted by a friend along with assets amounting to Rs.14 million.
Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) has Rs.8.3 million cash in his bank account. He owns a house in Rawalpindi and nine other apartments.
Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan has Rs.10 million worth of assets and 50 tolas of gold.
Arbab Alamgir has assets of Rs.200 million and an apartment in Dubai, worth Rs.40 million.
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has declared Rs.5.5 million worth of assets.
Chaudhary Pervez Elahi has Rs.64.1 cash in his bank account, Rs.8.9 worth of property and Rs.34.9 worth of investments.
PPP leader and Speaker National Assembly, Fehmida Mirza, has assets comprising of Rs.80 million and an apartment in Dubai worth Rs.15 million.
The election commission released audited assets details of the political parties. According to the details, the PML-N emerges as Pakistan’s richest party with declared assets worth more than Rs.80 million.
The PML-Quaid is the second richest with assets comprising of Rs.51.44 million, while the ANP takes the third position with declared assets worth Rs.20.73 million.
The net worth of the Pakistan People’s Party, the leading party in the outgoing National Assembly, was declared at Rs.4,35,000.
According to the ECP, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has assets worth Rs.9.46 whereas the net worth of the JI is Rs.1.85 million.
Sheikh Rashid’s Awami Muslim League declared assets worth Rs.70000.
Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) has declared assets comprising of Rs. 1.375 million.
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
#12
noxiouspython
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Posted 30 March 2013 - 08:48 AM
What about PTI?
w/salaam
"There is none worthy of worship but He, glorified be He: [Far is He] above that which they associate [with Him]" (Qur'an 9:31)
Not equal are the owners of the fire and the owners of the Garden. The owners of the Garden, they are the victorious. [Quran 59:20]
Allah knows best [who are] your enemies. Allah is sufficient as a Friend, and Allah is sufficient as a Helper. [4:45]
Fudayl ibn Iyaad said: "Verily, if an action was done sincerely for the sake of Allah but was not correct, it will not be accepted by Allah. And if the action was correct but not done sincerely it will not be accepted until the act is sincere and correct. For it to be sincere, it has to be done for the sake of Allah, and in order for it to be correct, it has to agree to the sunnah."
the Messenger of Allah pbuh says; “whoever does not care about the affairs of the Muslims is not one of them.”
islamqa.com
#13
Pak-Son
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Posted 03 April 2013 - 06:26 PM
The assets of senior PTI members were uploaded on their official website for everyone to look into. Bravo to Imran Khan!
Assets of PTI leaders unveiled
http://www.thenewstr...aders-unveiled/
#14
Pak-Son
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Posted 03 April 2013 - 06:31 PM
NS - Zardari friends again!!
PPP, PML-N enter undeclared alliance in southern K-P
PESHAWAR:
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has entered into an undeclared alliance with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in two southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, posing a challenge for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) in the upcoming polls.
According to sources, the parties have entered a seat adjustment agreement in Lakki Marwat and PPP provincial president Anwar Saifullah Khan is likely to stand as their joint candidate in Bannu for a National Assembly seat. The sources added the preliminary list of PPP and PML-N candidates had confirmed the ground situation in the two districts.
Anwar Saifullah is contesting for NA-26 Bannu and PK-74 Lakki Marwat along with Humayun Saifullah Khan from NA-27 Lakki Marwat and PK-75 Lakki Marwat. PML-N has named Salim Saifullah Khan as its candidate from NA-27 Lakki Marwat.
Sources claim Humayun Saifullah Khan will announce his withdrawal from the polls allowing his brother Salim Saifullah Khan, who will contest as an independent candidate, to take his place. Not contesting on a PML-N ticket will leave space for any further seat adjustment between the parties.
PPP has left open PK-76 Lakki Marwat, where PML-N has named Akhtar Munir as its candidate. In return, the PML-N has left open the national assembly seat of NA-26 Bannu for Anwar Saifullah.
So far, both parties have nominated candidates for four provincial assembly seats from Bannu, but have left open one constituency each without naming candidates. There also exists a possibility of seat adjustment on provincial assembly seats in Bannu.
PML-N has nominated Malik Nasir Khan from PK-70, Bannu-I, Dr Sahib Zaman for PK-72, Bannu-III, and Ahmad Mustafa Ali Khan for PK-73, Bannu-IV. The party is yet to decide on PK-71, Bannu-II.
Meanwhile, Fakhr-e-Azam Khan from PK-71, Bannu-II, Advocate Shoaib from PK-72, Bannu-III, and Pashtunyar Khan from PK-73, Bannu-IV have been nominated by the PPP, with the candidate for PK-70, Bannu-I, undecided as yet.
To overcome existing rifts in the party which have led workers to support either Zulfiqar Afghani or Azam Afridi in Peshawar, Anwar Saifullah Khan has also filed nomination papers from NA-1, Peshawar-I.
This will allow Khan to stand against the Awami National Party’s Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan if the rift remains unresolved within PPP’s ranks in Peshawar.
PPP and PML-N’s manoeuvres will raise serious concerns for JUI-F as party chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman is himself a candidate from NA-27 Lakki Marwat, where he will be competing against Salim Saifullah Khan who will have PPP’s support.
The maulana will also be contesting against Faisal Karim Kundi, who beat him in the 2008 polls, in his native DI Khan. JUI-F provincial president Akram Khan Durrani, on the other hand, will be standing against PML-N backed Anwar Saifullah for the NA-26 Bannu seat. Durrani will also have to face Malik Nasir Khan, supported by PPP, in PK-70, Bannu-I.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 31st, 2013.
#15
Pak-Son
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Posted 03 April 2013 - 06:36 PM
Britain is giving £300m of taxpayers’ money to a controversial programme of cash handouts in Pakistan which is accused of bankrolling the re-election campaign of Benazir Bhutto’s former party.
In evidence to a parliamentary inquiry, a leading development economist said the Benazir Income Support Programme was being used to buy support for Mrs Bhutto’s widower, President Asif Ali Zardari, and his party.
Ehtisham Ahmad, a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, said Britain’s Department for International Development (DfID) was pouring money into a scheme riven by “clientelism”.
“It is not stolen to the extent to which previous cash transfers were stolen, but this is the mechanism - which is funded partly by DFID - to make friends and influence people. This is the re-election campaign of Mr Zardari, which is funded by DFID,” he said. “Well done.”
The Select Committee on International Development is due to publish its report into aid to Pakistan on Thursday.Britain has rapidly expanded its assistance in recent years. Pakistan is on course to become the biggest recipient of UK aid, receiving £450m per year by 2015.
http://www.telegraph...n-Pakistan.html
#16
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Posted 04 April 2013 - 04:58 PM
SLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Thursday objected to the candidature of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif in the upcoming general elections over alleged scam of Hudaibiya Paper Mills, a senior NAB official told Dawn.Com.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab president and the former chief minister, along with his brother PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, are accused in the Rs3,486 million loan default case.
They have been accused of accumulating money and assets beyond their declared means of income by misusing authority. The case was filed with the Attock NAB Court on March 27, 2000.
Abbas Sharif, Hussain Nawaz, Hamza Shahbaz, Shamim Akhtar, Sabiha Abbas, Maryam Safdar and Ishaq Dar are other accused in the case.The bureau has conveyed its recommendations to the election commission in this regard.
Meanwhile, a spokesman of the PML-N has denied the allegations hurled at his party’s top leadership saying the details provided by the NAB are “misleading.”
He said that “darlings” of the outgoing PPP government are still present among the bureau’s ranks, who he said are targeting the PML-N leaders. The spokesman said truth regarding these allegations will be soon unveiled in a press conference.
Reacting to the denial by the PML-N, the NAB official told Dawn.Com that the accountability bureau does not want to tarnish image of any public figure, adding that whatever details they have provided the ECP with is based on facts. It’s up to the election commission to decide the fate of any candidate regarding his/her eligibility to contest the polls, he added.
The NAB had set up election cells to help the election commission in the scrutiny of candidates for the May 11 elections. The decision to establish the cells was taken at a meeting held on Feb 20.
The meeting, presided over by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Fakharuddin G. Ebrahim, was attended by heads of NAB, Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and National Database Registration Authority (Nadra).
The meeting had decided that the ECP, with the help of relevant organisations, will identify tax-evaders, loan and utility bill defaulters and beneficiaries of written-off loans to prevent them from contesting polls.
http://dawn.com/2013...hudaibiya-case/
#17
Felicius
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Posted 16 August 2013 - 09:30 AM
Anti-corruption court issues arrest warrant for PPP leader
DAWN.COM

PPP Leader, Makhdoom Amin Fahim - File Photo
KARACHI: An anti-corruption court issued non-bailable arrest warrants on Friday for senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Amin Fahim and the former director of NICL, Qasim Amin Dada, in the NICL Case.
During the hearing which took place in the Special Federal Anti-Corruption Court-II, Karachi, the court expressed its dissatisfaction over Fahim’s absence from the hearing.
Fahim’s lawyer submitted to the court an apology on behalf of his client, and said that the lawmaker was not present for the hearing because he was busy with parliamentary duties.
The court ordered authorities to ensure the presence of Fahim in the next hearing of the case and issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of the PPP president and Qasim Dada.
The former federal minister was facing charges under Section 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). Both accused had allegedly caused huge financial losses to the national exchequer by violating rules in the procurement of a piece of land in Korangi.
According to the original charge sheet, a total of Rs900 million was embezzled in the purchase of the land in question, with Rs41 million of this amount being transferred in the loan account of Fahim and members of his family in a private bank.
On the other hand, Sindh High Court ordered DIG and SSP South to submit a response by August 18, regarding the Hamza Ahmed murder case. Ahmed, a 17 year old O-level student was allegedly gunned down by the guard of another teenager, Mohammad Shoaib, on the night of April 27 in Defence Housing Authority. Talib Suhail, the father of the deceased, asked the court to resume court proceedings regarding his son’s murder.
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
#18
Felicius
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Posted 20 May 2014 - 09:27 AM
A very comprehensive report, Pakistan's Robber Barons - http://richpaki.tripod.com/barons.html
Nishat Saigol Crescent Dewan Ittefaq Chakwal Saphire/Gulistan Habib GulAhmed/Al-karam Packages Atlas Hashwani Dawood Bibojees / Saifullah Monnoo Fecto Lakson Fateh Bawany Sargodha Alnoor Ghulam Farooq Ibrahim Schon United Rupali Dadabhoy Colony Shahnawaz Premier Umer Fazal / Fatima Calico Jehangir Elahi Adamjee Tawakkal Kassim Dada Kohistan
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
#19
Felicius
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Posted 20 May 2014 - 09:30 AM
http://richpaki.trip...asterstroke.htm
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
#20
Felicius
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Posted 20 May 2014 - 09:31 AM
http://richpaki.trip...om/hashwani.htm
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
#21
Felicius
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Posted 20 May 2014 - 09:35 AM
http://richpaki.tripod.com/cases.htm
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
#22
blueazure
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Posted 21 May 2014 - 01:58 AM
the biggest robbers in Pakistan are/were NAWAZ and BENAZIR . their sponsored media mikes like jang and geo group can rant all day that military rule destroyed this country , yet the fact is that BB and NAWAZ engaged in looting and pillage of this unfortunate country every single day of their rule . what was done under the military rule is peanuts compared to theirs
@blueazure47
#23
Felicius
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Posted 22 May 2014 - 08:34 AM
Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
#24
Felicius
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Posted 17 June 2014 - 04:15 PM
http://www.dawn.com/...orruption-cases

Napoleon Bonaparte: The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!
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