News Desk |
Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi shared the property tax statement of a New York apartment allegedly owned by the Pakistan Peoples’ Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari.
The property documents tweeted by Zaidi mention address of the apartment as 524 East 72 street, Apt 37F, NY, NY Manhattan 10021.
Just for clarity’s sake… attached are the latest property tax bills of 524 East 72 street, Apt 37F, NY, NY 10021
Bills are all in the name of Asif Ali Zardari.@khurram2004 more info for your petition pic.twitter.com/SkePGurEKo— Ali Haider Zaidi (@AliHZaidiPTI) December 22, 2018
Earlier Information Minister Fawad Chaudhary on Wednesday, Dec 19 had revealed that Asif Ali Zardari had owned the said property but since he failed to declare it in nomination papers for elections, under article 62 and 63 on the constitution, had become ineligible to remain the Member of Parliament.
What PPP and Mr. Zardari need to do is not come up with hullabaloo but prove that he actually did sell that property; which seems almost impossible given the documented evidence.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has already filed a reference with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against Zardari for concealing the property in his nomination papers of 2018 elections.
The petition submitted by PTI’s Khurram Sher Zaman and Firdous Shamim Naqvi moved the ECP Sindh to take notice of the matter and disqualify Zardari as the member of the National Assembly.
The provincial election commissioner maintained that only ECP Islamabad could take an action over it. Mr. Zardari on Friday, Dec 21 denied owning the property and said it had already been sold years back. He also claimed that he knew “who is providing false documents to media for their media trial.”
Read more: Hidden assets revealed: Government to file a reference against Zardari
Interestingly, the documents show that property is still in the name of Mr. Zardari, contrary to his claim. Analysts believe for face-saving, controversies like “we know who is providing false documents” are being generated. Courts don’t believe in assumptions, guesses, and hypothesis. What PPP and Mr. Zardari need to do is not come up with hullabaloo but prove that he actually did sell that property; which seems almost impossible given the documented evidence.