Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the verdict of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had yet again proved Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan as a ‘certified liar’ over submitting false affidavits.
“The ECP verdict on PTI foreign funding case charge sheets Imran Niazi for violating the Constitution, submitting false affidavits, and accepting foreign money,” the prime minister said in a tweet after the ECP announced the verdict this morning.
“Proven yet again that he is a certified liar,” he added and urged the nation to ponder over the implications of Imran Khan’s politics funded by foreigners.
ECP verdict on PTI foreign funding case chargesheets Imran Niazi for violating the Constitution, submitting false affidavits & accepting foreign money. Proven yet again that he is a certified liar. Nation should ponder over the implications of his politics funded by foreigners.
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) August 2, 2022
The ECP bench in its reserved verdict said that prohibited funding against PTI has been proven.
A three-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja announced the verdict in a case filed by PTI’s founding member Akbar S. Babar which remained pending since November 14, 2014.
The development days come after the ruling alliance, comprising members of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, PPP, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan urged ECP to release the verdict in the case.
The Election Commission of Pakistan reserved its verdict after the conclusion of arguments from both sides of the case on June 21. Also, PPTOIIt is noteworthy that PTI foreign funding is heard by the election commission since November 2014.
PTI founding member and former information secretary Akbar S Babar filed the case in the ECP in November 2014. Alleging financial irregularities in PTI’s foreign funding and that it received funds from prohibited sources.
The PTI has rejected the charges as baseless and unfounded.
The PTI disagreed with the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) finding that the party had received illegal funds
In a unanimous decision, the ECP stated that the commission discovered that 34 foreign donations were obtained during foreign fundraising. The United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates all contributed.
The ECP claimed that PTI also took money from an American businessman.
The commission added that hiding accounts is a “violation” of Article 17 of the Constitution in its conclusion that “unknown accounts” had also come to light.
The PTI Chairman Imran Khan submitted a bogus Nomination Form I, and the affidavit presented regarding party accounts was false, according to the ECP’s findings.
PTI has received a show-cause notice from the ECP.
Fawad Chaudhry, senior vice president of the PTI, said in a press conference held after the decision that abroad Pakistanis donated money to the party and that the ECP had agreed with their claim that this did not constitute “foreign funding.”
The PTI will demonstrate the 16 accounts are legitimate in the following phase, in addition to the fact that they are “subsidiary accounts,” according to Chaudhry.
The PTI leader stated that “no party has the right to conceal its finances from the people.”
In the funding case against the PPP and PML-N, he urged that the election authority disclose its decision after the PTI.
Foreign money was “not demonstrated against the party,” according to Farrukh Habib, the PTI Central Deputy Secretary for Information.
“The verdict disappointed those who were pushing the narrative of foreign funding against the PTI,” said Habib.
He claimed that the PTI has held the position that the case involved illegal money, not foreign support, from the very beginning.
The PTI leader questioned the ECP, claiming that the IHC had mandated an impartial investigation into the financial records of all political parties.
He claimed that while the PTI account investigation committee had finished its work on schedule, the PPP and PML account investigation committees had failed to turn in their final report.
