Enter the corrupt, exit men of conscience
By Ansar Abbasi
Detailed reading of the 18th constitutional bill removes life time bar from becoming member of parliament on the convicts of crimes like corruption, misuse of authority, moral turpitude, absconders etc and those even jailed by the court of law for propagating any opinion or acting in any manner prejudicial to the ideology of Pakistan or the sovereignty, integrity or security of Pakistan or the integrity or independence of the judiciary of Pakistan or which defames or brings into ridicule the judiciary or the armed forces of Pakistan.
This amendment once done would mean that the party heads like Asif Ali Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, Asfandyar Wali, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Altaf Hussain, etc would get unfettered powers to dictate to their members in parliament as to what kind of constitutional amendments they should vote for. This would further the dictatorial rule within the political parties, which under the same 18th Amendment would now be at the liberty to hold intra-party elections. These amendments would turn the parliamentarians, including MNAs and senators into a herd.
The green tractor scam
By Choudry A.
THE much heralded balloting of the Green Tractor Scheme is being lauded in the media, but if you take a close look, the whole process would appear sham — a scam run right under the noses of the DCO and MPA by the officials at the lower end.
Gujar Khan, one of the largest tehsils, reported that over 1,300 applications were received, of which over 400 were put on a rejected list for one reason or another.
It is alleged that the staff at the local DDRO office took it upon themselves to process the applications without paying due care to the instruction issued by the Punjab government. This created an opportunity for them to oblige who they wanted, and include or exclude names at will.
The lists of names accepted and rejected were put on display for a day or two; after that they were nowhere to be seen.
According to the rules and regulations of the scheme, the office of the DDRO should have notified in writing to all who were placed on the rejected list, but they chose not to do so.
Hence when this list was reviewed by the DCO, only 40 to 50 applicants who relentlessly pursued their applications were included in the list, of which only 25 to 30 people appeared before the DCO on the date.
It was conveniently brought forward without notifying the applicants. Hence the poor turnout. The local MPA from the PML (N) was also present. The process continued and there was no balloting as such but a computerised electronic display of pre-selected names on the screen.
This charade was played in the presence of the DCO, several local MPAs from the ruling PML-N party and some members of the public.
The screen showed 972 eligible names out of over 1,300 aspirants.
The largest tehsil of Gujar Khan was allocated only 75 tractors, i.e. less than eight per cent. Some tehsils received 25 per cent to 80 per cent of their shares.
Who decided on this disproportionate allocation? Unfortunately the scam doesn’t end here.
Only after one year the green tractors handed out under the scheme are being sold in the open market at a lower price with a condition that a transfer deed will be confirmed after two years.
In most cases these green tractors are shifted to Afghanistan via Peshawar and the best or worst part is that the government-approved agents are part of this scam. This is your transparent ‘Green Tractors Scam’.
(via Dawn)
PM’s wife gets Rs38m bank loan written off
ISLAMABAD: The wife of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is one of the main beneficiaries of the recent loan write-off policy of the National Bank of Pakistan. The bank waived a loan of over Rs 38 million taken by Pak Green Fertiliser Limited (PGFL) which she owned as one of its main partners.
The monetary benefit availed by Fauzia Gilani’s firm is in clear contrast with what the prime minister had claimed in the National Assembly that he and his wife never sought any waiver in bank loans. Read More…
LNG Scandal in Pakistan
Former minister Shaukat Tarin is appearing before the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Petroleum on Tuesday to brief its members on how he was kept in the dark by the Petroleum Ministry bosses at the time of award of the LNG contract to the highest bidder.
This meeting will bring Tarin face to face with Minister for Petroleum Naveed Qamar for the first time since the $1 billion dollar scam was detected in the award of 3.5 million ton LNG contract. The Supreme Court has already taken a suo moto notice of this scam and a six-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudry, has directed the Petroleum Ministry and other relevant persons, including Tarin and MD Fauji Foundation Lt-Gen Rab Nawaz, to give their written versions by April 12.
Meanwhile, the media has been banned from covering the committee’s proceedings on Tuesday. MNA Sheikh Waqas Akram, chairman of the committee, has summoned all the relevant persons to record their statements on how a French firm was given the contract despite the fact that its bidding price was higher than the joint offer by Fauji Foundation and Vitol.
Talking to The News, Tarin confirmed that he has been summoned. He reiterated that he was not given the full picture by the Ministry of Petroleum at the time of approval of the contract as he was given the impression that the firm was the lowest bidder. Tarin said he might not have come to know about the facts of this case had Gen Rab Nawaz not called him to complain that the joint bidding by FF/Vitol was not entertained despite being lower than the one offered by the French company.
Tarin said soon after coming to know about this lapse, he had written a letter to the ministry to know why he was kept in the dark. He said even if the bid was not qualified, the ECC should have been told about the offer. He said he would not back out from his stance that he was kept in dark .
Meanwhile, the committee has got documentary evidence to probe the scam. It has obtained the official summaries sent to the ECC by the ministry. It has also obtained the letter written by Tarin to the ministry bosses. Talking to The News, Waqas Akram said he had got the whole record of the contract and would get the feedback of all the concerned ministers and officials in the meeting. He said the media would not be allowed to sit in the meeting, as he did not want to make things difficult at this stage. He said first he would get the information from all quarters and then allow the media to sit in the committee to hear the proceedings.
(via Pak Spectator)
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