Pakistani Senate Forced to Reveal Individual Gold Assets

The Election Commission of Pakistan has revealed the amount of gold held by individual members of the Pakistani Senate yesterday.

Gold has always been used as a currency in the region and much of the demand for the metal is used for religious ceremonies and celebrations, so it is logical that many Pakistani Senators would hold gold assets, but what is perhaps a bit surprising is the large amount of gold they own.

The Senator owning the most gold was Nawabzada Saifullah Magsi, with 1,100 tolas of physical gold (approximately $533,000 worth) among his assets. The tola is a South Asian unit of measurement equivalent to about 3/8 of an ounce.

Twenty Five Senators possess gold totaling more than 309 million rupees (~$5 million).

There are currently 104 Pakistani Senators serving terms of six years. Elections are split between members every three years with strict requirements for specific representation of certain demographics such as minorities and women.

Pakistan has been a Federal Republic since 1947. The Election Commission of Pakistan, or ECP, was first founded on March 23, 1956 when the first constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was adopted but the commission was dissolved two years later after a coup d'etat. The ECP was reformed in 1962 but dissolved once more amid a popular uprising in 1969. It was finally re-established in its current form in 1973.