They are not lawmakers anymore, so why are they still occupying parliamentary lodges? And so, we have a drive of evictions underway at the federal capital.
By Naveed Naqvi
ISLAMABAD: Nobody seems to have noticed much, but another ritual of passage from power is playing out in the federal capital away from the media’s prying eyes: The authorities are astir to evict former lawmakers belonging to Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from the official residences they were entitled to as lawmakers.
An operation was conducted to vacate the illegal residences of the members of parliament of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in lodges in Islamabad on Saturday. Sources within the administration say this is a joint operation conducted by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the district administration with help from the ICT Police.
The management of Parliament Lodges removed the belongings from Farrukh Habib’s lodge. Assistant Commissioner Rana Musa and Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Chandio were seen supervising the proceedings. The police contingent was headed by the local DSP and included the SHO.
Eight former lawmakers including former cabinet minister Shafqat Mehmood handed over the keys to the enforcement team. Some members sought more time to move out and were granted two days to hand over the keys.
According to the sources, the team was accompanied by expert staff to break the locks to any residences found abandoned but locked. Locks of such residences were eventually broken in presence of the Assistant Commissioner and the Magistrate.
Earlier, the director of lodges provided details of 120 illegal MNAs in the lodges to the police and administration. A few members assured to submit documents after clearance. CDA has handed over the details of members who have not received NOC from the CDA administration.
A letter was written by the CDA Director to the CDA Magistrate for assistance in the operation. According to the text of the letter, CDA administration requested to deal with any unusual situation in the operation.
On January 24, PTI’s de-notify members were given a notice to vacate government residences. The letter said that the operation to be carried out in case the residences are not vacated, so measures should be taken to deal with any untoward incident.
During a media talk outside the Parliament Lodges, the member of the National Assembly Saira Bano strongly condemned the way of the repossession operation was being carried out. “It is humiliating to ask a member of parliament to vacate his residence”, she said. “Members of Parliament [should be allowed to keep their] official residence until the [next] election”.
Bano pointed out that the new general election is less than three months away, and the former lawmakers should have been allowed to stay on until that time.
The operation has been put on hold for now, and is due to recommence on Monday.
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