HOWHOW RICHRICH AREARE PPAKISTAKISTANIANI MNAS?MNAs? Key Points from Analysis of the Declaration of Assets Submitted by MNAs for the Years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 PILDAT is an independent, non-partisan and not-for-profit indigenous research and training institution with the mission to strengthen democracy and democratic institutions in Pakistan. PILDAT is a registered non-profit entity under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860, Pakistan. Copyright ©Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency – PILDAT All rights Reserved Printed in Pakistan First Published: December 2009 ISBN: 978-969-558-146-9 Any part of this publication can be used or cited with a clear reference to PILDAT. Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency No. 7, 9th Avenue, F-8/1, Islamabad, Pakistan Tel: (+92-51) 111-123-345; Fax: (+92-51) 226-3078 E-mail: [email protected]; Web: www.pildat.org Abbreviations and Acronyms Foreword Executive Summary Average Value of Assets 09 Provincial Picture of Average Assets 10 Provincial Share in the Combined Value of Assets of all MNAs 11 How Political Parties Figure in the MNAs' Assets? 12 The Richest MNAs 13 The Poorest MNAs 14 The Richest and Poorest MNAs in Each Province 15 Richest Female MNAs 25 Richest and Poorest MNAs in each Party 26 Average Assets of Non-Muslim MNAs 29 MNAs Failing to Declare Assets 32 Appendix A: Constituency-wise list of MNAs along with their Assets and Rank Tables Table 1: Average Value of Assets of an MNA 2002-2008 09 Table 2: Ranking of Provinces and Territories in Terms of Average Assets of an MNA 10 Table 3: Province-wise Percentage of Combined Assets of all MNAs 11 Table 4: Party Ranking in terms of Average Assets per MNA 12 Table 5: Five Richest MNAs 13 Table 6: Five poorest MNAs 14 Table 7: Three Richest MNAs from Balochistan 15 Table 8: Three Poorest MNAs from Balochistan 16 Table 9: Three Richest MNAs from FATA 17 Table 10: Three Poorest MNAs from FATA 17 Table 11: Three Richest MNAs from NWFP 18 Table 12: Three Poorest MNAs from NWFP 19 Table 13: Three Richest MNAs from Punjab 20 Table 14: Three Poorest MNAs from Punjab 21 Table 15: Three Richest MNAs from Sindh 22 Table 16: Three Poorest MNAs from Sindh 23 Table 17: MNAs from ICT 24 Table 18: Richest Female MNAs 25 Table 19: Three Richest MNAs from PPPP 26 Table 20: Three Poorest MNAs from PPPP 26 Table 21: Three Richest MNAs from PML 27 Table 22: Three Poorest MNAs from PML 27 Table 23: Three Richest MNAs from PML-N 28 Table 24: Three Poorest MNAs from PML-N 28 Table 25: Average Assets of Non-Muslim MNAs 25 Table 26: Ten Best Asset Managers 30 Table 27: Five Worst Asset Managers 31 Table 28: MNAs failing to make declarations in 2006-2007 32 Table 29: MNAs failing to make declarations in 2007-2008 33 Figures Figure1: Growth of MNAs Assets 09 Figure 2: Average Assets per MNA, Provincial Ranking 10 Figure 3: Comparative Growth of all and non-Muslim MNAs' Average Assets 29 How Rich are Pakistani MNAs? PILDAT REPORT Abbreviations & Acronyms ANP Awami National Party BNP Balochistan National Party IND Independent MMA Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal MNA Member National Assembly MQM Muttahida Quami Movement NA National Assembly NPP National Peoples' Party PAT Pakistan Awami Tehreek PKMAP Pakhtoon-Khwa Milli Awami Party PML Pakistan Muslim League (previously Quaid-e-Azam) PML-F Pakistan Muslim League-Functional PML-N Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz PPPP Pakistan Peoples' Party-Parliamentarian PPP-S Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao Group PTI Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf 05 How Rich are Pakistani MNAs? PILDAT REPORT FOREWORD According to the provisions of Section 42A of the Representation of the People Act 1976 and Section 25A of the Senate (Election) Act 1975, all elected representatives in the national and provincial legislatures of Pakistan must submit detailed accounts of their assets and liabilities to the Election Commission of Pakistan on a prescribed proforma by the end of each financial year. Failure to submit a declaration may lead to disqualification of the elected member. The declared assets are compiled and published by the Election Commission in the form of a Gazette of the Federal Government for the information and use of general public. This is a very welcome step, advancing transparency in the financial dealings of elected representative and, with effective monitoring by the media and civil society groups, may lead to increased accountability. This report aims to contribute to that process. It is important that these declarations of assets are made accessible to public in a comprehensible format. It is also important that the declarations are analysed, to demonstrate and highlight underlying trends among parties, provinces and individual legislators. This report aims to translate the information from abstract figures to easily understood data, putting the information available to the public in perspective. This report that analyses the declaration of sssets submitted by MNAs for the years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, has been compiled by the PILDAT team of researchers and analysts using mathematical, computer based analysis. Earlier, PILDAT had prepared and disseminated assets' analysis of MNAs for the years 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. However, it is important to note that the data used is that provided by representatives themselves in their returns. We have not attempted to verify the information provided by the legislators. The net worth of an MNA was calculated as being the total assets of each MNA, his/her spouse and children, deducting his/her and his/her immediate family's liabilities. In the one case of a married couple, both of whom are elected MNAs, their total declared assets as a family have been divided equally between them. Analysis of data has been hampered by the method by which some MNAs have reported. In particular, a number of MNAs have listed their property, such as land or assets, but not its value. This clearly hampers proper analysis and hinders transparency. We hope that this presentation of the key findings of our analysis will enhance public understanding and will help promote political discourse within Pakistan. Islamabad December 2009 06 How Rich are Pakistani MNAs? PILDAT REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMAR SUMMARY Y This report attempts to present some key findings of our analysis of the declarations of assets by members of the 12th and 13th National Assemblies of Pakistan, filed in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 respectively. The sources of information for this report are the Gazettes published by the Election Commission of Pakistan on October 17, 2007 and October 15, 2008. The report demonstrates that the current average value of assets held by an MNA stands at Rs. 73.92 million, based on the 2007-2008 declarations. This figure demonstrates an increase of 87.2% from the 2006-2007 figure of Rs. 39.487 million. The average value of assets owned by non-Muslim MNAs, Rs. 19 million, is 75% lower than the overall average of almost Rs. 74 million, based on 2007-2008 figures. This disparity has increased from 58% in the previous year. In geographical terms, the differences in average wealth are significant. In 2007-2008, MNAs from Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) have the highest average value of assets per MNA followed by those from NWFP, Punjab, FATA, Sindh and Balochistan respectively. Similarly, in 2006-2007, MNAs from ICT headed the list. In terms of the percentage share of the combined value of assets in the year 2007-2008, Punjab tops the list, with a share of 56 %, followed by NWFP (31 %), Sindh (8 %), FATA (2 %), ICT (2 %) and Balochistan (1 %). In the previous year the figures differed considerably, with Punjab topping the list with 75 % of the combined assets (far greater than warranted by their representation level, 54%, in the National Assembly), followed by Sindh (10 %), Balochistan (6 %), ICT (5 %), NWFP (3 %) and FATA (1 %). In terms of political party affiliation, the figures also vary widely. In 2007-2008, the PML-F is top of the list in terms of the average wealth of its MNAs (average assets per MNA: Rs. 159 million), followed by the NPP Rs. 124 million, the PPPP (Rs. 97 million) and the ANP (Rs. 77 million), the PML (Rs. 71 million), the PML-N (Rs. 68 million), the PPP-S (Rs. 30 million), Independents (Rs. 28.44 million), the MQM (Rs. 25 million), the BNP (Rs. 13 million) and the MMA (Rs. 6 million). These figures demonstrate a 28 fold difference between the average wealth of the MNAs in the party with the greatest average wealth and that with the least. The 2007-2008 figures demonstrate a marked shift in both size and distribution from the 2006-2007 figures, where the list was topped by the PML (average assets per MNA: Rs. 57 million), followed by the PML-N (Rs. 53 million), the PTI (Rs. 49 million), the PPPP (Rs. 38 million), the PPP-S (Rs. 28 million), the PML-F (Rs. 21 million), the MMA (Rs. 17 million), independents (Rs 13 million), the PAT (Rs. 11 million), the MQM (Rs. 9 million), the JWP (Rs. 5 million) and the PKMAP (Rs. 0.25 million). In terms of individual wealth, the 2007-2008 declarations reveal the wealthiest MNA to be Mr. Mehboob Ullah Jan (NA-23, Kohistan, NWFP, PPPP) with total assets of Rs. 3.252 billion. He is followed by Ms. Nuzhat Sadiq (NA-277, 07 How Rich are Pakistani MNAs? PILDAT REPORT Punjab-V, PML-N), with total assets of Rs. 1.514 billion, Chaudhry Zahid Iqbal (NA-162, Sahiwal-III, Punjab, PPPP), with assets amounting to Rs.