Islamabad: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s party has decided to file two petitions challenging the ruling of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that declared the party received “prohibited funding” and issued a notice.
“Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would file two different petitions in the Islamabad High Court. One for contempt of court [for violating injunctions] and the other for legal ambiguities arising from the ECP ruling,” PTI focal person on international media, Raoof Hasan, told reporters on Wednesday.
The party is hopeful that the courts “will serve justice.” He said that Khan “has emerged as the real political threat for the corrupt families which promoted the culture of lotacracy by buying loyalties of politicians with looted money.”
Regarding concerns that the ECP decision could lead to a ban on Khan and his party, Raoof Hasan told Gulf News that “there was no threat to Imran Khan’s political future” and “disqualification of PTI was also not an option under the laws.” PTI has demanded simultaneous accountability of the funding of all political parties without discrimination or bias. Hasan urged the ECP to publish all PTI funding-related documents submitted to the commission and those of PPP and PML-N to make all political findings public.
ECP verdict
The case against PTI, commonly called the “foreign funding” case, was eventually described as a case of “prohibited funding” by the ECP in its August 2 verdict. In its much-awaited ruling, ECP accused PTI of receiving funds from foreign individuals and firms, concealing bank accounts and funds from 34 individuals and 351 companies based abroad. The commission issued a notice to the party to explain why the funds should not be confiscated. “The office is also directed to initiate any other action under the law, in the light of this order of the Commission, including forwarding the case to the federal government,” stated the verdict.
What is foreign funding case?
The case against Khan’s PTI party was filed in 2014 by PTI dissident member Akbar Babar who had alleged financial irregularities in the party’s funding from Pakistan and abroad. In 2018, ECP formed a scrutiny committee to examine the case, which presented its findings after four years in January 2022. The final ECP report on August 2 said that PTI committed gross violations of Pakistani funding laws by receiving millions of dollars from foreign nationals and companies.
Article 6 (3) of the Political Parties Act 2002 says that “Any contribution made, directly or indirectly, by any foreign government, multinational or domestically incorporated public or private company, firm, trade or professional association shall be prohibited, and the parties may accept contributions and donations only from individuals.” The next clause says any prohibited contribution or donation shall be confiscated by the state. It shows that there is no bar for individuals in foreign countries to donate funds to a political party. PTI claims that they received funds from Pakistani expats. Khan’s party enjoys widespread support among nine million Pakistanis living abroad.
Government mulling ban on Imran Khan and PTI
The ruling coalition parties, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), termed the ECP verdict a “charge sheet” against Khan’s party. PML-N leader Talal Chaudhry demanded a lifetime ban and imprisonment for Khan. Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb demanded Khan resign from the party chairman post immediately, saying that a “liar involved in foreign funding and money laundering” had finally been caught after eight years.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that maintained the ECP decision declared Khan a “certified liar” for submitting false affidavits, while PPP chairman and foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s spokesman said the verdict proved the former premier was corrupt and running his political party under the guise of a cancer hospital.
Meanwhile, PTI chairman Imran Khan announced to hold a peaceful protest outside of the ECP on Thursday to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja since the party believes he is biased against PTI.
