The Opposition lambasted PM Imran Khan and his party, PTI, after a scrutiny committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) reported that the party did not disclose millions of rupees worth of funds to the constitutional body.
The report stated that the PTI provided “false information” regarding the party’s funding to the ECP.
It said that SBP’s bank statement revealed that the party had received Rs1.64 billion in funding.
According to the report, the party did not disclose funding worth more than Rs310 million to the ECP.
In this regard, PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz was quick to lash at PM Imran Khan by stating that he had not only “stolen and hidden money, but also plundered the people”.
Maryam further said the “constant leaks, revelations, and evidence, are more than enough to bring down the PTI”.
“No other party in history has been behind such serious fraud and scandals,” she added.
“Has there been such a corrupt, liar, and conspiratorial ruler like Imran Khan in the history of Pakistan?” she asked.
Meanwhile, PPP’s Central Information Secretary Shazia Marri, while addressing a presser in Lahore, asked the PTI and PM Imran Khan to provide complete bank account and funding details to the ECP.
“You have given details about 12 accounts, where are the details of the rest of the accounts […] PPP has submitted complete details of its accounts,” she said.
Later, in a tweet, Marri said: “Imran Khan talashi do (give yourself up for examination).”
Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) spokesperson Hafiz Hamdullah, in a statement, said the scrutiny committee’s report has “revealed the theft of Imran Khan and PTI”.
“The scrutiny committee has exposed the true face of the PTI before the nation […] Imran Khan and PTI, who accused others of theft, turned out to be thieves themselves,” he said.
The spokesperson said the report has “proven” that PM Imran Khan is “not sadiq and ameen” anymore, as he demanded the premier to disclose the purpose for which the hidden bank accounts were used.
PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal held a media briefing outside the ECP’s office in Islamabad earlier in the day.
He said the scrutiny committee’s report had “washed away Imran Khan’s make up of honesty”.
“Imran Khan acts as the champion of transparency in the country, but in the foreign funding case, he is making lame excuses to stop the hearing; PTI is resorting to mudslinging to cover its own theft,” he said.
Neither has PTI submitted a “single piece of evidence” against PML-N nor has the ECP heard any case of illegal funding against the party, he said.
It is pertinent to note that on the contrary, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said that according to the report “there is no question of foreign funding”, as he demanded scrutiny of the accounts of the PML-N, PPP and all other political parties.
“The report [of the ECP scrutiny committee] does not point towards foreign funding […] it has been decided that there is no case of foreign funding,” the information minister said.
He demanded the election commission put the facts of the foreign funding case before the nation, so the people can themselves analyse which party is raising funds through which means.
