ISLAMABAD: The government on Sunday received a public applause as well as backlash from the opposition parties after declaring the assets and nationalities of all the special assistants and advisers to Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The details have been shared on the Cabinet Division website as instructed by the prime minister. Netizens praised the PTI government, with people from diverse backgrounds terming the declaration of assets and nationalities of advisers and special assistants another step towards transparency promised by Imran Khan after making public reports on the sugar and wheat scandals and the air crashes.
However, the opposition lawmakers castigated the government after it decided to release details about assets and dual nationality of special assistants and advisers aimed at boosting "transparency" in the government.
On Saturday night, Minister for Information Shibli Faraz had announced that asset details and other nationalities of all the special assistants and advisers to the prime minister were now available for public viewing.
He had said that the details had been shared on the Cabinet Division website as instructed by the premier. It was revealed that four aides — Nadeem Babar, Tania Aidrus, Zulfi Bukhari and Shahzad Syed Qasim — had other nationalities. Following the disclosure, lawmakers from the opposition parties tore into the incumbent government and reminded it of the previous claims and promises made to the public.
Lambasting the government over the series of U-turns in the past, PPP parliamentary leader in the Senate Senator Sherry Rehman Sunday asked as to why dual nationals were part of the cabinet when they could not even become members of the Parliament for being dual nationals.
“Under which law the dual nationality holders have been made part of the cabinet?” she asked in a video message. Sherry said out of 19 unelected cabinet members, four assistants had dual citizenship.
“Did the prime minister, despite having this information, make dual nationals part of the constitutional forum?" she asked. She recalled that in the past, Imran Khan had strongly opposed members with dual citizenship and now he had taken another U-turn on everything he said.
She further asked if there was a shortage of capable people in the country and in the PTI for the prime minister to import ministers from abroad. She further asked if the PTI had a dearth of capable persons.
"It has been proved that this government has no policy and no vision,” she said. Meanwhile, PPP Secretary Information Dr Nafisa Shah also raised the question about five special assistants for having dual nationality.
She said it was a sensitive issue adding that the details of dual nationals in the cabinet and their assets details had opened a new Pandora’s Box and the ‘selected prime minister’ had been exposed after reality about the advisers had become known.
"Half of the cabinet members criticising the dual citizenship holders have dual citizenship. What action is the incompetent prime minister taking against dual nationals?" she questioned. She said those who had sworn allegiance abroad had been imposed on the country during the ruling tenure of this government.
She said the recent report had vindicated the PPP's concerns. Referring to Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning Moeed Yusuf, she said the fact that Moeed Yousuf had access to the sensitive matters of the country was quite worrisome.
Similarly, she said Nadeem Babar, who was currently Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Division with the status of Minister of State, had shares in the petroleum companies, which was a conflict of interest.
She said the billionaire members of the cabinet did not have any link with the poor of the country but the mafia. According to the documents, Babar owns assets worth Rs2.184 billion, including multiple properties in Pakistan as well as foreign destinations. He has stakes in over two dozen companies in companies based out of Pakistan.
Terming the presence of people with dual nationalities in the federal cabinet a "security risk", the Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab said "the makers of Naya Pakistan" had included consultants from abroad in the cabinet.
Underscoring that the Constitution does not allow people with dual citizenship to become members of the cabinet and parliament, Wahab said that the access of people with foreign citizenship to sensitive information is a serious matter and the prime minister has "committed a crime" by including dual nationals in the cabinet.
"Prime Minister Niazi [Imran Khan], like every other problem, took a U-turn on this issue," he added. PML-N stalwart Khawaja Asif said that the federal cabinet is always a product of the parliament and rules regarding dual nationalities are applicable to both.
"If a foreign national can't be member of the parliament, how can he/she be a member of the cabinet?" he asked. PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal called the government "guest actors, who will sink the country's economy, take out their green cards and British passports, grab a flight and flee the country".
"They sit in the cabinet meetings and have not even been sworn to secrecy," he added. Criticising the government for including dual nationality holders in the cabinet, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb lashed out saying that foreign nationality holders should not be decision-makers.
Taking her reproval to Twitter, the PML-N lawmaker shared a clip of the prime minister where he is asserting that dual nationality holders should not be included in the government. The PML-N leader also quoted prime minister's early statements where he said that if a lawmaker owns a foreign passport, he or she should not be allowed to sit in the Assembly.
"His hypocrisy is shameless as his duplicity is destroying a nation. All Imran Khan is missing is a flute," she said, in a possible reference to the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. In this regard, Deputy Secretary-General PML-N Attaullah Tarar demanded that the names of lawmakers who hold dual citizenship be added to the Exit Control List (ECL).
"Yesterday, a drama was staged and dust was thrown in the eyes of the people. If these people flee to any country tomorrow, who will be responsible?" Chastising the prime minister's earlier stance, Tarar said, "Imran Khan used to say that the presence of dual nationals in the cabinet leads to the country being looted."
The PML-N leader went on to add that the projects initiated by the former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif are given credit under the name of the current chief minister of Punjab, Usman Buzdar.
"The person who has been declared as Wasim Akram [while referring to Usman Buzdar] is bent on getting his players out. Usman Buzdar is changing ministers and advisers every day," Tarar criticised.
"You said that people from abroad would come to Pakistan to get jobs. They are sitting in your very cabinet," he added. As criticism continued to mount well into the day, members of the PTI began to respond to the "shameful" tactics employed by the Opposition and the "lies" being spread.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari said PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif held an Iqama when he was the prime minister. “Khawaja Asif held Iqama while serving as defense minister, while Ishaq Dar had a Saudi Iqama when he was the finance minister,” he said while responding to the PML-N criticism of advisers and special assistants, who had declared their dual nationalities and assets on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“You should be ashamed while criticizing others, he said and asked PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal to respond to the permanent residences held by their leadership before criticizing others.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Barrister Shahzad Akbar Sunday said non-elected members were not enjoying authority to sign important decisions taken in the cabinet level meetings.
In an interview with a private news channel, he said only elected members in the assembly had discretionary powers to sign important matters and take decisions in the cabinet level meetings.
“The special assistants to prime minister do not have the executive powers, so there is no harm to share advices on matters of public interest,” he stated. Replying to a question about dual nationals in the assembly, he said the credit went to the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for not hiding anything from the public.
He said the incumbent government had presented a detailed report to the public on the assets of special assistants and advisors to the prime minister.
