CDA undertakes operation to vacate Parliament Lodges from former lawmakers

–Dozens of former parliamentarians reluctant to leave official residences, given final notice till Monday

ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA)’s Enforcement and Security Directorate, along with district administration and police, conducted an operation to vacate the Parliament Lodges from former lawmakers on Friday but achieved little success as only 20 out of 52 lodges were vacated.

On the directives of Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla, the CDA Enforcement and Security Directorate had undertaken the task of vacating Parliament Lodges – the official residence allotted to parliamentarians in the red zone – from former lawmakers.

It is worth mentioning that the interim government issued notices to 92 former lawmakers to vacate the premises by July 31 so that the lodges could be allotted to newly-elected parliamentarians.

CDA Director Security Faheem Badshah, along with Magistrate Abdul Hadi and police, conducted the operation.

Out of 92 parliamentarians to whom notices were issued CDA, 52 continued to hold possession of the lodges they were allotted. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Tallal Chaudhary, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Farooq Sattar, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Ghulam Rabbani, Aftab Ahmed Sherpao Pir Ameenul Hasnaat, Zafar Ullah Jamali Major Tahir Iqbal, Bilal Virk, Maulana Ameer Zaman, Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, Raja Matloob Mehdi, Sheeza Fatima Sardar Jaffar Leghari, Chaudhary Jaffar Iqbal, Abdul Ghaffar Dogar are among the those who continue to hold possession of the lodges.

CDA staff faced resistance when they tried to vacate the lodge allotted to former MNA Aslam Bhootani.

At the time of filing of this story, CDA had managed to retrieve 35 out of 52 lodges while the staff is planning to continue the operation on Saturday as well.

Sources told Pakistan Today that former lawmakers have been given a final notice to vacate the premises by August 13 when the new National Assembly (NA) is expected to take oath.

It is also worth mentioning that around 80 parliamentarians who have been re-elected will retain the same lodges.