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Zardari sets record for taking gifts
ISLAMABAD - President Asif Zardari has set a new record within a year by taking one-third of all the expensive gifts presented to all Pakistani presidents and prime ministers, the government informed a Senate panel on cabinet division.
- PUBLISHED: Thu 27 Oct 2011, 11:10 PM UPDATED: Thu 19 Jan 2023, 10:56 AM
Of the gifts totalling Rs160 million, President Zardari has taken gifts worth Rs62 million during the first year of his presidency. He reportedly got two BMWs and two foreign manufactured Toyota Jeeps as gift by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi during his visit to Libya, which he took to his home, after paying a sum of only Rs9.3 million as retention cost.
During foreign visits so far, Zardari was given 27 gifts worth Rs62 million, which is one-third of the accumulated cost of the 3,039 gifts, which were given to presidents and prime ministers in three decades. The other 13 Pakistani presidents and prime ministers, from Gen. Ziaul Haq to Gen. Musharraf and from Prime Minister Mohammed Khan Junejo to Shaukat Aziz, quietly took 3,039 expensive gifts worth Rs160 million to their homes.
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The list shows three presidents and two prime ministers - Farooq Leghari, Gen. (retd) Pervez Musharraf, Asif Zardari, Nawaz Sharif and Shaukat Aziz - took gifts worth Rs150 million out of Rs160 million but Asif Zardari took the largest share within a year of his presidency.
Others including Gen. Ziaul Haq, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Rafiq Tarar, and PMs Mohammed Khan Junejo, Benazir Bhutto, Balakh Sher Mazari, Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain got gifts worth Rs10 million.
The record of similar gifts received and retained by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was not produced before the committee. Rules allow the recipients of gifts to pay only five per cent of their value as assessed by the Cabinet Division which is usually priced very low.
Shaukat Aziz (1,126 gifts), Gen. (retd) Musharraf (260 gift) and Asif Zardari were among the few leaders who got the most expensive gifts. Sources said these gifts were valued at much lower price than their actual price to enable these leaders to take the gifts home without paying a single penny or after paying a meagre part of the cost.
The official cost of these expensive gifts, including necklaces, jewellery boxes, diamonds, gold, watches, carpets, etc., was estimated at Rs26 million.
According to the available official list, Gen. Ayub Khan was the only ruler of Pakistan who deposited all of the 30 expensive gifts with the Tosha Khana. Gen. Zia (September 16, 1978 to August 17, 1988) received a total of 210 gifts worth Rs1.7 million out of which he took 122 gifts with him to his house after paying Rs1.6 million.
news@khaleejtimes.com