Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruled on Tuesday that former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s political party received funds from prohibited sources. The decision could lead to a ban on Imran and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
The Election Commission, which had reserved the verdict in the eight-year-old case on June 21, said the PTI violated the Constitution in receiving funds from prohibited sources, including 34 foreign nationals and 351 foreign-based companies. The verdict shared details of eight accounts while keeping 13 hidden and failed to mention three.
The ECP has also issued notice to the PTI asking why its funds should not be confiscated. The three-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja further held that the PTI also received funds from other countries.
The verdict in a case filed by PTI founding member Akbar S Babar in November 2014 also held that Imran Khan’s party “knowingly and willfully” received donations from several companies abroad in gross violation of Pakistani laws as they are in the prohibited category.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a tweet, said the PTI chairman has been declared “a certified liar”, and the ECP verdict is a charge sheet against him for “violating the Constitution, submitting false affidavits & accepting foreign money.”
“Nation should ponder over the implications of his politics funded by foreigners,” he said in his tweet.
“It is a clear case of fraud,” said Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, leader of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League party.
Following the verdict, PTI Senior Vice-President Fawad Chaudhry, addressing a press conference, said overseas Pakistanis raised funds for the PTI, and the ECP had acknowledged that it did not come under “foreign funding”.
The PTI will prove that the 16 accounts are legal, adding that these accounts are “subsidiary accounts,” Chaudhry said. “No party has the right to hide its funding from the people,” claimed the PTI leader.
He demanded that the election body announce its verdict in the funding case against PPP and PML-N after the PTI.
In a tweet later, Fawad Chaudhry said that since the Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and ECP members have “weak” legal backgrounds, they failed to “differentiate between an affidavit and a certificate. This is not a case of misdeclaration as the party chairman Imran Khan submitted a document on audited accounts, he said in his post on social media site.
