The opposition has lodged a peaceful protest outside the headquarters of the ECP. Despite the January 31 deadline approaching and still no sign of the PTI government quitting anytime soon, the large gathering indicated that there is no hint of weariness yet in the opposition’s ranks after three months of hectic agitational activity.
The foreign funding case against the PTI was filed in November 2014, not by an opposition party but by a founding member of the PTI. There were allegations of financial irregularities that included illegal sources of funding, concealment of bank accounts in the country and abroad, money laundering, and using private bank accounts of PTI employees as a front to receive illegal donations. The Prime Minister had earlier maintained that his party did not raise funds from any prohibited source and possessed all the required documents. What raised suspicions however was the PTI’s latest stance that if any funds were collected illegally through the two companies registered in the USA, the responsibility would lie solely on the companies and not on the PTI.
In their speeches in front of the ECP’s central office, opposition leaders termed the foreign funding case “the biggest fraud in Pakistan’s history” and compared the six-year-long delay in delivering the verdict with the expeditiousness shown in concluding the cases against former PM Nawaz Sharif. A leader from Balochistan questioned what would have happened if a party from a smaller province had been found to be involved in illegal funding from abroad. It remains to be seen how the ECP responds to the opposition’s demand to fulfill its constitutional obligations efficiently. Meanwhile, to maintain the momentum of the ongoing agitation, the alliance has announced more rallies in the provinces till February 27 after which it would launch a countrywide long march to Islamabad.
The government gave a free hand to the PDM to hold a public meeting in the Red Zone. The opposition put up a peaceful show. It remains to be seen if the opposition displays enough maturity in days to come to resolve differences over resignations, the forthcoming by-elections and the Senate elections. Also on what to do next if the long march also fails to deliver the results desired by the PDM.
