Information Minister Fawad Ch has demanded simultaneous scrutiny of parties’ funding which is unjust and irrational. There is a perception that the plea at this juncture is aimed at stopping the ECP from announcing its verdict on PTI’s foreign funding case. The report of the scrutiny committee which was constituted to audit foreign funds of the ruling PTI is reportedly finalised and is under ECP’s consideration. A public hearing of the case is likely to begin soon. There is no reason to postpone the announcement of judgment in a case where the findings have already been reached by clubbing it with those cases which might take more time to conclude.
Over the last seven years the PTI has tried its utmost to dodge the enquiry into its foreign accounts. The case was filed with concrete evidence by one of the party’s founding members. For three years the PTI delayed the proceedings by questioning the jurisdiction of the ECP to scrutinize its accounts. Two years back it went to IHC to restrain the scrutiny committee formed by the ECP from probing the party’s foreign funding. This again showed how desperate the PTI was to get the proceedings delayed.
On the other hand the PML-N and the PPP neither questioned the jurisdiction of the ECP nor refused to cooperate with it. A year before 2018 elections the PTI approached the Commission to seek detailed scrutiny of funding record of the PML-N and PPP meanwhile seeking the cancelation of the election symbols allocated to them. Both cooperated with the commission. The case continued to linger on till the ECP sent the matter to an investigative committee in June 2018.
The cases against PML-N and PPP should be pursued in accordance with law. The accounts of every ECP-registered political party need to be scrutinized without any discrimination. This is required to ensure that there is no illegality involved in fund collection. But to tie up a case that has matured with others which might take time to conclude for no reason other than political balancing goes against the spirit of justice.
