June 19, 2006	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 22, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, June 18: Pakistan People’s Party information secretary Sherry Rehman has rejected allegations levelled against her by a ruling party MNA that she was receiving benefits from the government as well as the prime minister while remaining in the opposition.

Speaking at a press conference here on Sunday, she said she would be taking legal action against the MNA for “defaming my good name and character”.

She said the remarks were being used against her because she had highlighted the fudging of figures and the issue of Nadra in the federal budget, besides her stance on the Charter of Democracy and the sugar and other scandals.

“I am an ideological politician. I am not like those ministers who reveal a car or motorbike or a small portion of a house as their assets to the election commission.

“All my wealth is white and I have paid taxes on that,” she observed.

She said she had declared her assets in full and had nothing to hide. “I have two cars here and two in Karachi. There is no need to hide my assets,” she added.

The Pakistan People’s Party MNA said that in her remarks inside parliament MNA Kashmala Tariq did not mention her name specifically but alleged that certain members had been beneficiaries of banking licences from the government, and then specifically referred to a microfinance bank. In an English daily, however, she named Ms Rehman for obtaining licence for a microfinance bank.

Ms Rehman challenged the PML MNA to prove her allegations both in parliament - where she has already moved a privilege motion against her - and in the public.

She said the microfinance bank was partly owned by her husband Nadeem Hussain, who had obtained the licence from the State Bank of Pakistan in September last year. At no point, she added, the finance ministry, let alone the prime minister, was approached by either her husband or herself to obtain the licence.

Under the Microfinance Ordinance 2001, a microfinance bank licence could be obtained from the SBP without reference to any federal institution, she said, adding that, in fact, it was freely available to all the applicants.