They take the bus

It seems that the recent boom in the automobile sector has passed by some of the country's political elite. At a time when its probably easier to obtain car financing than to pay a utility bill, some 100 parliamentarians would have us believe that they - and their spouses and dependents - don't own a car.

Based on the list, I have a few suggestions:
-Humayun Akhtar Khan, the Commerce Minister, should be relieved of his post. What use an architect of commerce who can't afford his own car? Incidentally, perhaps it's time people stop referring to him as 'Million Dollar Khan'.
-Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali should sell some of the official gifts he carted off to buy himself a car.
-Qazi Hussein Ahmed should have educated his sons in one of his madressahs instead of the US and used the savings to buy his family a car.
-Had 'Maulana Diesel' aka Maulan Fazlur Rehman stored away a few gallons he may yet have been able to afford a car in these days of high petrol prices.

You can log your protest here.

The News, 21/05/06
Believe it or not — they don’t own a car
By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Almost 100 members of the National Assembly including those known for being fabulously rich do not have any conveyance of their own.

Their declaration of assets as notified by the Election Commission exposes the financial strength, if one tends to believe their returns, of the Chaudhrys, Soomros, Pirs, Gilanis, Qureshis, Sardars, Mirs, Achakzais, Rajas, Fatianas, Nakais, Wattos, Mengals and many others of the country’s elite.

It really looks unbelievable when the likes of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Rao Sikandar Iqbal, Humayun Akhtar Khan, Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, Faisal Saleh Hayat, Muhammad Nasir Khan, Ejaz-ul-Haq, Raza Hayat Hiraj declare “solemnly” that they don’t have a car to drive.

A total of 13 MNA ministers and ministers of state are included in the list of those having no conveyance.

Even some opposition members who are considered well-off like Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s Mian Muhammad Aslam, Pakistan People’s Party-Parliamentarians’ Raja Pervez Ashraf, MMA’s Hafiz Suleman Butt, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, etc, also fall in the same category of MNAs.

Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Maulana Fazlur Rehman also say that they don’t own any car. Amongst the women MPs, besides several others, Dr Attiya Inayatullah and Kashmala Tariq have also declared to have no vehicle.

The Election Commission declaration bound members of the National Assembly to declare not only their own assets but also the assets of their spouses and dependent children.

Amongst the ministers and ministers of state the “car-less” brigade includes Rao Sikandar Iqbal, Humayun Akhtar Khan, Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, Maj (retd) Tahir Iqbal, Dr Sher Afgan, Wasi Zafar, Muhammad Nasir Khan, Ijazul Haq, Ghaus Bux Khan Mahar, Ghulam Bibi Bharwana and Muhammad Raza Hayat Hiraj.

Begum Shahnaz Shaikh had a car but sold it.

Such MNAs, both of the treasury and opposition benches, include Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Chaudhry Amir Hussain (wife has a car), Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Mian Muhammad Aslam, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Hafiz Salman Butt, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Zumarud Khan, Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi, Chaudhry Muhammad Asim Nazir, Raja Ali Khan Baloch, Muhammad Safdar Shakir, Rana Asif Tauseef, Dr Nisar Ahmad, Mushtaq Ali Cheema, Chaudhry Abid Ali, Ch Amjad Ali, Muhammad Farhan Latif, Riaz Khan Fatiana, Ch Imranullah, Qari Hameedullah Khan, Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, Chaudhry Bilal Ejaz, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Rehman Naseer, Muhammad Pervez Malik has got a tractor but wife owns a car, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Farooq Ahmad Mir, Malik Zaheer Abbas Khokhar, Samina Khalid Ghurki, Brig (retd) Zulfiqar Ahmad Dhillon, Khurram Munawar, Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmad, Sikandar Talib Hussain Nakai, Rai Muhammad Aslam Khan Kharal, Rubina Shaheen Watto, Rana Mahmoodul Hasan, Makhdoomzada Syed Asad Murtaza Gilani, Engineer Muhammad Shahid Jamil Qureshi, Syed Ali Hussain Gilani, Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan Nasar, Maulana Muhammad Khan Sheerani, Mir Ghulam Haider Khan, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Abdul Rauf Mangal, Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani, Attaur Rehman, Maulana Amanullah Khan (using son’s car), Asadullah, Maulana Syed Naik Zaman, Habibullah Bughio, Mir Ijaz Hussain Jakhrani, Shamshad Sattar Baghani, Pir Aftab Hussain Shah, Syed Ayaz Ali Shah Sheerazi, Muhammad Ali Malkani, Muhammad Laeeq Khan, Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi, Israul Ebad Khan, Abdus Sattar, Muhammad Shamim Siddiqi, Sher Mohammad Baloch, Maulvi Noor Muhammad, Haji Gull Muhammad Dummar, Maulana Rahmatullah Khalil (using brother’s Suzuki), Sabir Hussain Awan, Maulana Muhammad Qasim, Muhammad Usman advocate, Maulana Khalil Ahmad, Shah Abdul Aziz, Sardar Shahjahan Yousaf, Maulana Abdul Malik, Maulana Abdul Haleem, Haroonur Rashid and Muhammad Noorul Haq.

Amongst women MPs, who were voted to the NA on the reserved seats for women include Dr Donyia Aziz, Kashmala Tariq, Dr Attyia Inayatullah, Begum Tehmina Dasti, Ms Onaza Ehsan, Bushra Anwar Sipra, Dr Rozina Tufail, Rukhsana Bangash, Samia Raheel Qazi, Mrs Mahmoona Hashmi, Ayla Malik Rind, Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan, Riffat Amjad, Ms Ruqia Khanam Soomro, Rubina Saadat Qaim Khan, Mrs Shamim Akhtar, Mrs Shabina Talat, Afsar Begum, Gul-e-Farkhanda, Khurshid Afghan and Inayat Begum.

Such minority members of the National Assembly are M P Bhandara, Professor Mushtaq Victor, Krishan Bheel and Devdas Shagman.

As against the above there are two Maulanas — Maulana Abdul Malik and Maulana Merajuddin — who have no assets but a car each.