Under the government’s Rules of Business, the chief minister cannot personally use public resources, while it is also unclear from which account the payment was made; her annual income was declared as Rs3.6 million, journalist Imran Shafqat said.
Speaking on a Hum news programme, he said Maryam Nawaz Sharif should accept that the plane controversy is not going away. “I examined the Punjab government’s Rules of Business. The chief minister cannot use public resources for personal or private purposes and has no authority to use them in this manner,” he said.
He added that it was still unclear from which account the money had been paid. “According to her election declarations, Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s annual income was Rs3.6 million. There are many questions that she will have to answer,” he said.
“Madam, according to a government report, 10 million additional people in your province have fallen below the poverty line.
Does this not inspire fear of God when you indulge in such lavish spending and then proudly publicise it while the people of your province are facing such severe difficulties?” he said.
Senior journalist Hamid Mir, speaking on his Geo News programme, said the Punjab chief minister had used a highly bitter tone while addressing an event that day.
He said she had questioned why people were troubled by her travelling to London on her plane and had also levelled allegations against her critics. “However, I respectfully submit that there is considerable contradiction in your position.
Therefore, the Punjab chief minister should herself reflect on the contradictions in her statements,” he said.
He added that a few days earlier, Maryam had said in London that she was on leave, while today, to justify her personal use of the official plane, she had said that a chief minister is never on leave.
He said the statements of her fellow ministers also did not match. One minister had said that the plane was purchased for Air Punjab and that a fleet was to be created, adding that aircraft would have to be purchased or leased for Air Punjab.
On the other hand, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif displayed a receipt at a public gathering showing payment of the plane fare.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony of an electric bus service in Multan, she said she had paid Rs27.5 million to use the plane to attend her daughter’s graduation ceremony. She said she had paid the aircraft’s fuel, parking and other charges from her own pocket.
