M Ishadullah Khan
PESHAWAR: Deputy Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Suriya Bibi has been declared a defaulter of a Rs2 million loan taken from the KP Khyber Education Foundation and an interest of Rs10 million incurred on it so far.
The Election Commission of Pakistan issued notice and summoned her for not mentioning the loan in her nomination papers and providing false information.
Suriya Bibi, a member of the provincial assembly from PK-1 Upper Chitral, previously ran a private school. A letter issued in May this year by the education foundation stated that she was a defaulter of Rs3 million and her land may be auctioned to recover the amount.
It added that she owes more than Rs3 million, including the principal amount and the interest, to the foundation.
According to the election commission\’s notice issued this month, Suriya Bibi did not mention this loan in her nomination papers, and was summoned on August 21, 2024, for hiding facts from the commission. It said that her membership may be terminated under Article 62 and 63.
When contacted, the deputy speaker told ChitralToday that she will soon submit her response to the ECP.
In response to a question, she said that the land acquired for the school was not in her name, it was in someone else\’s name.
The ECP has raised a question about the school\’s land being in my name, which is not the case. That\’s why I didn\’t disclose it. Someone else is running the school. I have no connection with it. She said her opponents were trying to malign her by filing an application against her about an issue that no longer existed.
Not mentioning any asset or liability shows dishonesty and can render Bibi disqualified. She will stand out to be not “sadiqa and ameena”.