The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) granted the ruling Pakistan Tehrek-i-Insaf (PTI) access to papers pertaining to foreign funding charges against the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Monday (PPP).
At a hearing of the foreign funding case, a two-member commission bench consisting of Nisar Ahmad Durrani and Shah Muhammad Jatoi accepted the application filed by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib seeking access to the accounts of the two major opposition parties.
After the hearing, the minister told the media that the PML-N had hidden seven accounts from the ECP, while the PPP had hidden 12 accounts. He stated that he demanded that the panel offer the ruling party access to both parties’ financial accounts for a meaningful audit.
He claimed that the PPP and PML-N were concealing facts that he would present to the country. The minister said, “We will bring to light the fake accounts of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz.”
The minister stated that the people had disguised their corruption because of the ECP’s delay in deciding his appeal. Furthermore, he added, “Now we would not let them run away.”
Mr. Habib stated that the government would present the records to a scrutiny committee after analyzing the accounts of the opposition parties, the PPP, and the PML-N. He said that the ruling PTI was the only party to present the ECP with a list of its 40,000 contributors.
He asserted that financial experts and chartered accountants would scrutinize the opposition parties’ financial paperwork in detail. He said, “Both the parties used to take money from mafias.”
Furthermore, he also accused the PML-N of using the accounts of the party for the purpose of money laundering.
On September 15, the commission set a date of October 11 to announce its verdict on the minister’s request for access to financial data relevant to the foreign funding cases against the PML-N and the PPP.
The minister had previously stated, through his counsel, that Akbar S. Babar, a disgruntled PTI leader who had filed a petition in the foreign funding issue against the ruling party, had been allowed access to the whole PTI record. Similarly, he believes the PTI should have access to the PML-N and PPP’s records.
Meanwhile, the ECP has postponed the hearing of petitions seeking to disqualify PPP senator Yousaf Raza Gillani till November 15.
Maleeka Bokhari, a PTI lawmaker, has filed a new appeal with the ECP, seeking that both Senator Gillani and his son Ali Haider Gillani be summoned in person.
The defense maintained that the commission could not hear the case since it had been more than 60 days since the Senate elections.
The ECP subsequently instructed the senator’s counsel to provide written comments on the petition’s admissibility as well as a plea for personal attendance, and the hearing was postponed until November 15.
The petition was based on a video of Gillani’s son, Ali Haider, instructing several PTI legislators how to waste their votes and a leaked audio recording of Sindh Minister Nasir Hussain Shah supposedly haggling with four PTI lawmakers for their votes in Senate elections.
