Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has sought details regarding assets of the ruling party’s lawmakers and ministers at the provincial and federal level in a bid to extend the anti-graft campaign to Punjab province.
According to details shared by top officials in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the prime minister has assigned the task to various institutions, including the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), to get information regarding assets details of his party’s key leaders as well as federal and provincial cabinet members.
They said the premier is particularly interested in determining whether any change has occurred in the cabinet members’ incomes and assets from 2013 to 2015. Sources said the PM has categorically asked to let him know of all cases where the income and assets are beyond any lawmaker’s means.
Sources said the PM, after poring over these details, would give the go-ahead to anti-corruption watchdogs to take action against graft-tainted individuals. The prime minister issued these instructions after consulting Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other close aides during his three-day stay in Lahore.
They said the prime minister made this decision in order to dispel the impression that the federal government has not taken any action against corrupt elements in the PML-N and the Punjab province. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar recently said the campaign against corruption would be across the board and hinted at its beginning in Punjab.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said that PML-N believed that corruption should be eradicated from across the country. He said the concerned authorities would carry out action against corrupt elements if they were found guilty.
Earlier, political parties – including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) – had accused the government of political victimisation and singling out Sindh province for its anti-graft campaign.