The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in its verdict on Tuesday unanimously ruled that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) did indeed receive prohibited funding and issued a show-cause notice to the party.
A three-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja announced the verdict in a case filed by PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar. Akbar filed the case on November 14, 2014. The verdict was reserved on June 21.
The ECP said that the party, in violation of the Constitution, had received funds from 34 foreign entities. The party received funds from the United States, Australia, and the UAE. The ECP added that 13 unidentified accounts also surfaced during the probe in the PTI funding case.
It says that PTI Chairman Imran Khan submitted a false Nomination Form I. The PTI chairman kept accounts hidden, which the ECP said is a violation of the Constitution, and the affidavit provided regarding party accounts was also false.
The commission noted that “the party knowingly and willfully received funding from Wootton Cricket Limited, operated by business tycoon Arif Naqvi. The party was a willing recipient of prohibited money of $2,121,500”.
ECP Verdict on PTI’s foreign funding case is attached below;
The ECP said that the party knowingly and willfully also received donations from Bristol Engineering Services (a UAE-based company), E-Planet Trustees (a Cayman Island private registered company), SS Marketing Manchester (a UK-based private company), PTI USA LLC-6160, and PTI USA LLC-5975 which were hit by prohibition and in violation of Pakistani laws.
The ECP went on to say that the party had only owned eight accounts before the commission and declared 13 accounts to be unknown. “The data obtained from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reveals that all the 13 accounts disowned by the PTI were opened and operated by senior PTI management and leadership at [a] central and provincial level.”
The PTI chairman submitted Form-I for five years (between 2008-2013), which was found to be “grossly inaccurate on the basis of the financial statements obtained by this commission from SBP and other material available on record”.
“Imran Khan for the five years under review has filed submissions that were grossly inaccurate and wrong. Even during the course of scrutiny and hearing by this commission, the PTI continued to conceal and withhold complete and full disclosure of [the] source of its funds.”
The demand for an announcement of the verdict in this important case increased following an explosive story by the Financial Times, revealing the sources of funding of the PTI.
Read more: PTI foreign funding case: New revelations in Financial Times spark another controversy
Khan persistently has been demanding CEC Raja’s resignation, accusing him of being biased towards the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Read more: What did Bushra Bibi and Khan do after losing the no-confidence motion? Imran reveals all
Addressing his party members at PTI’s national council meeting in Islamabad on August 1, Khan called for a protest outside the ECP office in Islamabad on Thursday, August 4, to demand CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja’s resignation.
PTI foreign funding case: ECP to announce verdict tomorrow
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced that its verdict on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s foreign funding case will be announced tomorrow (Tuesday, August 2) at 10am.
Earlier it was reported by Daily Jang that after eight years ECP might announce its verdict this week in the PTI foreign funding case.
ECP officials revealed that the investigations into international money-laundering have been completed.
“PTI is only harming itself by filing a judicial reference against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja,” said ECP officials. They said that during the hearing of this judicial reference, certain matters that were earlier “hidden from public view would be revealed”. They further claimed that the judicial reference against the Election Commission of Pakistan and the CEC “is an attempt to create a smoke screen ahead of the verdict” by “blackmailers” who are part of an international money-laundering ring.
The officials further said that ECP will not bow to any “blackmailing and will not come under any pressure”, clarifying that the ECP has no bias toward any political party.
The development has come forward after an investigative report published in Financial Times revealed new details about PTI’s foreign funding.
After the FT report, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the coalition government, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), met ECP officials and urged them to release the verdict on the foreign funding case.
Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has also repeatedly urged the ECP to announce its verdict in the long-delayed case.
