Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and their
families have defaulted on bank loans worth Rs 37.98 million,
alleged Siddiqul Farooq, information secretary for the Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), at a press conference on Sunday.
Mr Hussain is the president
of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-QA) and
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is the Punjab chief minister.
Mr Farooq demanded that
Mr Hussain and Mr Elahi or the other Chaudhrys who had
allegedly defaulted loans be disqualified from parliament,
provincial assemblies and any other elected bodies.
“I have sent a letter
to the election commission (EC) again, asking why it did
not act against the Chaudhrys after receiving my last
letter issued five months ago,” Mr Farooq said.
He gave photocopies of a written reply from Finance Minister
Shaukat Aziz to journalists, which listed the two Chaudhrys
and their family members as loan defaulters.
The finance minister’s
reply supplied data from the National Bank of Pakistan
(NBP) about individuals and companies that borrowed money
from banks and had them written off.
According to the list,
those who allegedly defaulted included Mr Hussain, Mr
Elahi, Chaudhry Manzoor Elahi, Chaudhry Gulzar Muhammad,
Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain, Chaudhry Sabahat Elahi, Chaudhry
Shafaat Hussain, Qaisera Elahi, Kausar Hussain and Khalida
Begum.
The PML-N leader said the
Chaudhrys allegedly obtained loans from Bankers Equity
Limited and the NBP and used their influence to get their
loans written off.
Quoting Election Rules
for 2002, the PML-N leader said that no person could contest
the general elections if he obtained a loan of Rs 2 million
or more from a bank, a financial institution, a cooperative
society or a cooperative body in his name or in the name
of his or her spouse or any of his dependents which they
did not repay or had written off.
Mr Farooq criticised Chief
Election Commissioner (CEC) Irshad Hassan Khan for not
acting against the alleged defaulters. He said the PML-N
had informed the CEC and chairman of the National Accountability
Bureau about the bank defaults. “But no action was
taken against the Chaudhrys because General Pervez Musharraf
wanted a government of his own choice,” he said.
Mr Farooq said under the
rules, the CEC should have taken up the matter within
90 days from the date of receiving the complaint. He accused
the CEC of violating the rules. He said he would take
the matter to a higher court if the CEC refused to. He
said he would also send copies of his latest letter to
the EC, to the International Parliamentary Union, foreign
missions in Pakistan and other international organisations.
