ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has no assets abroad, but continues to receive colossal amounts from his son, Hussain Nawaz, who is settled in the UK, reveal the statements of MNAs’ assets released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday.
According to the statements of assets for 2015, released amidst the ongoing controversy around the Panama Papers leak, which linked politicians with offshore companies, the value of the assets owned by the prime minister and his spouse comes to around Rs2 billion — an increase of over a billion in just four years.
The value of his assets in 2011 was Rs166 million, which swelled to Rs261.6 million in 2012 and then to Rs1.82 billion in 2013, making him a declared billionaire. Then, in 2014, the declared value of his assets rose to around Rs2 billion.
Mr Sharif received over Rs215 million from his son Hussain Nawaz in 2015. He had previously received remittances from his son, worth Rs239 million and Rs197. 5 million in 2014 and 2013, respectively.
The prime minister is among the few billionaires in the National Assembly, the others being Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa MNAs Khayal Zaman and Sajid Hussain Toori.
Mr Sharif owns a Toyota Land Cruiser, gifted to him by an unspecified individual, as well as two Mercedes vehicles. The house he lives in is owned by his mother. He also has multiple foreign and local currency accounts, huge swathes of agricultural land and investments in industrial units such as sugar, textile and paper mills. Mr Sharif has also declared, for the first time, ownership of birds and animals worth Rs2 million.
The PM’s wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, has land and a house in Changa Gali, Abbottabad, that is worth Rs80 million, a bungalow on The Mall in Murree, worth Rs100 million, as well as shares in the family business.
Their son-in-law, retired Capt Mohammad Safdar, has only listed one property and 550 grams of jewellery in the name of his wife, the PM’s daughter, Maryam Safdar.
Property owned by Maryam Safdar, according to the ECP statement, is a 2006 BMW 4800CC car, which was gifted to her by someone in the United Arab Emirates, while her jewellery is worth Rs1 million.
According to the statement filed by Mr Safdar, there is no mention of his wife owning any property, investments or bank accounts inside or outside the country.
The net worth of the prime minister’s son-in-law is only Rs5 million, aside from some 20 acres of land in Mansehra district and around 215 acres of barren land in Rajanpur, Punjab.
Another wealthy MNA from the Sharif family is Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, the prime minister’s nephew and son of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. His net worth is Rs342.6 million, which includes 10 non-agricultural properties and he has significant investments in the Sharif Feed Mills, Ramzan Sugar Mills and Crystal Plastics.
He has not declared any investments or property outside the country and his bank balance is around Rs10.8 million.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2016
