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. Of the gifts totalling Rs160 million, Zardari has taken gifts worth Rs62 million during the first year of his presidency.

In his foreign visits so far, Zardari has been 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.

Zardari is said to have got two BMWs and two foreign manufactured Toyota Jeeps as gift by Libyan leader Colonel Qadafi during his visit to Libya, which he took to his home, after paying a sum of only Rs9.3 million as retention cost.

These shocking figures were produced before the Senate standing committee on cabinet division by the cabinet secretary on Monday during a presentation to its members. Zardari is now richer by Rs50 million within one year in the presidency, without doing a single rupee irregularity as this all was done under the law as he paid 15 per cent of the total cost of two BMWs and two jeeps and retained them.

The other 13 Pakistani presidents and prime ministers, from Gen Ziaul Haq to Gen Musharraf and from Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo to Shaukat Aziz, quietly took 3,039 expensive gifts worth Rs160 million to their homes. 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 Mohammad Khan Junejo, Benazir Bhutto, Balakh Sher Mazari, Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain got gifts worth Rs10 million.

This extraordinary list does not contain names of hundreds of ministers, federal secretaries, officials and military officers and generals who, too, received gifts from foreign dignitaries and took them home.

According to an official copy presented to the National Assembly committee members, the record of similar gifts received and retained by two prime ministers, Yousuf Raza Gilani and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was not produced before the committee.

One source said either both the gentlemen did not get a single gift during their tenures or the official record of their gifts had gone missing so it was not produced before the committee members. The source claimed there could be one other possibility: the cabinet division bosses did not produce the record for some other “obvious reason”.

Shaukat Aziz, Gen (retd) Musharraf 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.

Sources said Tosha Khana (gifts repository) was transferred from the ministry of foreign affairs to the cabinet division in 1973 and the rules were changed from time to time to accommodate the top guns of the country so they could retain them without paying significant amounts.

The official papers reveal Shaukat Aziz emerged as the luckiest prime minister of this country who took 1,126 gifts with him on his last flight from Islamabad to London in January 2008, perhaps never to return to this country. The official cost of these expensive gifts, including necklaces, jewellery boxes, diamonds, gold, watches, carpets, etc., was estimated at Rs26 million.

Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf got 260 gifts worth Rs33 million and took 255 gifts with him after paying only Rs5.1 million. He only deposited five gifts in the Tosha Khana. He got richer by at least Rs27 million by getting these free gifts. Musharraf and his wife got many diamond and gold sets, jewellery boxes, daggers, pistols, etc. How the prices of these gifts were deliberately kept at the lower side could be judged from the fact that Shaukat Aziz was given a pair of silky scarfs by the governor of Nepal and he took them home after they were estimated at Rs25 each. Likewise, Shaukat Aziz also got one bag gifted by wife of Tony Blair assessed at only Rs300. A gift given by visiting Prince Charles was also assessed to be of Rs200 and Shaukat Aziz took it home.

According to the available official list, Gen Ayub Khan was the only ruler of Pakistan who deposited all the expensive gifts with the Tosha Khana and did not wish to take even a single gift to his house. The list showed Ayub Khan received a total of 30 gifts from October 27, 1958 to March 3, 1969 worth Rs33,850. But, he sent all those gifts to the cabinet division. The other prime minister who also deposited all his gifts in the Tosha Khana was Balakh Sher Mazari.

The official record of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is not available with the cabinet division so no one knows whether ZAB followed the precedent set by Gen Ayub Khan or he also retained some gifts.

But 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. He deposited 88 gifts with the Tosha Khana.

Mohammad Khan Junejo received 305 gifts worth Rs1.4 million out of which he took 304 home and only one gift was deposited with the Tosha Khana. Junejo was made to pay Rs219,027 as retention cost.

During his five-year rule as the president of the country, Ghulam Ishaq Khan received 89 gifts worth Rs510,900 and he retained 88 of them after paying only Rs67,335. Benazir Bhutto got 630 gifts in her two tenures as the prime minister of Pakistan worth Rs2.1 million. She retained 174 gifts and deposited the rest with the Tosha Khana. She paid a sum of Rs271,802 to retain those gifts.

Wasim Sajjad in his capacity as acting president of Pakistan was given only four gifts worth Rs8,200 and he retained all of them after paying Rs1,250. Nawaz Sharif, twice elected as the prime minister, was given 127 gifts worth Rs10 million out of which he took home 75 after paying Rs1.4 million. He deposited 50 gifts with Tosha Khana.

President Farooq Leghari received 116 gifts worth Rs18 million and except two he took all the 114 gifts to Choti Zarin, DG Khan. He paid only Rs2.8 million to retain the gifts worth Rs18 million and got richer by Rs14 million. Acting prime minister Balakh Sher Mazari, who served only for 30 days, got three gifts worth Rs2,300 and he deposited all of them with the Tosha Khana.

President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar got 74 gifts worth Rs1.1 million out of which he took 73 home in Lahore after paying only Rs142,005. He deposited only one gift with Tosha Khana. Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali during his two-and-a-half year in office, got 110 gifts worth Rs3.1 million and took all of them after paying only Rs299,409. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who remained prime minister for hardly 40 days, got nine gifts worth Rs216,500 and he took all of them after paying Rs28,500.

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