Nawaz and company: real corporate honchos

After Panama gate, another scandal has surfaced as one more member of the federal cabinet, Ahsan Iqbal, who oversees the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, is found to be a holder of Iqama (work permit) of Saudi Arabia.

Information reveals that Nawaz Sharif had obtained a work visa for Dubai and had received salary while acting as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

However, contrary to the Sharif family’s submitted documents and official claims, the company was found to be functional up until 2014 and was being managed by under the name of PM Nawaz Sharif, who was acting as the chairman of the board for the offshore company, Capital FZE, from August 7, 2006 to April 20, 2014. During this time, he was receiving a salary of AED 10,000 (PK Rs. 286,000). In other words, Nawaz Sharif was working privately and for a foreign company when he got elected as the PM of Pakistan in 2013. JIT reports that the salary was revised in 2007. On the basis of his employment, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had obtained a work visa (Iqama) for Dubai dated from 5-7-2009 to 4-6-2015.

Under Pakistan’s constitution, a public office holder cannot be an employee of any other organization. This holds true for the Prime Minister of the country as well.

According to a copy of Khawaja Asif’s contracts letter  obtained from the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, the Pakistani defence minister works as a “Management Consultant” in a Abu Dhabi-based firm and draws a monthly salary of AED50, 000 for his services. He also had his UAE labour card renewed as recent as June 29, 2017 and it would remain valid till June 28, 2019. He had cited his iqama issued by UAE’s International and Mechanical Company under which he was hired as a legal adviser for six months.

PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said: “It is sad that Nawaz Sharif, who is prime minister of Pakistan, is also serving as a marketing manager in the UAE. Khawaja Asif, who is our defence minister and handles all security forces of the country, is a Munshi (record keeper) of a UAE-based firm, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who runs the country’s finances, is also an employee of a firm in the UAE, and Ahsan Iqbal, who is the country’s planning minister and supervising CPEC, is a security guard of a Madina-based firm.

The PTI spokesman said ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders obtained work permits of foreign countries not to get jobs but to have an ‘escape way’ when they would not be in power and could be made accountable for their wrongdoings.

What is an Iqama?

An iqama is a residence permit issued to those expatriates who arrive in Saudi Arabia on an employment visa. The Iqama is valid for a period of 1-2 years. This is an essential document and may be requested at banks, hospitals, and several other places. It provides an expatriate with legal residence permit for Saudi Arabia, for the period of its validity.