The secret list of bulletproof Merc users

ISLAMABAD: Names of the 16 holy cows of the country who are quietly using official bullet-proof Mercedes Benz cars worth a billion rupees are not being released in the National Assembly, despite several reminders sent to the Cabinet Division which maintains the central pools of these cars.

This multi million dollar question has been asked but the Cabinet Division has only revealed that 16 bullet-proof Mercedes Benz were under the use of its own ìentitled officersî for official and general duties. But, their names were withheld.

Secretary Cabinet Division Zafar Mahmood told The News that no officer of his ministry was allowed to use Mercedes Benz at any cost, what to talk of bullet-proof cars. ìThe written reply or the official document you have, may have contained some serious printing mistakes,î he clarified.

Zafar, too, did not have any idea that if his officers were not using the Mercedes Benz then who were those people in whose possession these 16 bullet-proof cars were and why their names were not being shared with the elected representatives of the country.

“I will check the list and then tell you that who was using these cars,” he promised and said three bullet-proof Mercedes were at the disposal of the Cabinet Division for official and foreign dignitaries duty only.

Documents available with The News show these Mercs were being used by unauthorised officers of the Cabinet Division. The papers claim that the officers who were using these bullet-proof cars were “entitled”. But under the law even the federal secretary or a minister is not entitled to drive an official bullet-proof Mercedes car unless approved by the prime minister of Pakistan, who himself was sentenced to jail for seven years by a NAB court on account of misuse of one Mercedes Benz car in his capacity as Speaker NA (1993-1996).

Earlier, in reply to a written question in the NA, the government had informed the Lower House that a total of 28 bullet-proof Mercedes Benz cars were purchased by the Shaukat Aziz government. The names of 18 personalities using those bullet proof Mercedes were available with the Cabinet Division. It said 16 Mercedes of Pakistan model were in the use of entitled officers of the ministry but unlike the names of the army chief, oppositions leaders and other ministers the names of the government officers using those bullet-proof cars were not shared with parliament.

The information given to the House in reply to a question revealed that 18 persons were using bullet-proof Mercedes Benz cars including Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, Chairman Senate Farooq Naek, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majeed, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, former acting prime minister Ch Shujaat Hussain, Chief Minister Balochistan Raisani, CM NWFP Haider Hoti, ex-interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Speaker NA Dr Fehmida Mirza, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, MNA Asfandyar Wali Khan, Speaker NWFP Assembly and senator Waqar Ahmed Khan.
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