-ECP scrutiny body’s Cat comes out of the Bag
-Funding case turns out to be much eddo about nothing
-ECP issues show cause notice to PTI to explain certain funding
-Terms Imran’s certification as untrue affidavit
-PTI says the case is related to prohibited not foreign funding
-Party to challenge verdict
By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday, in a unanimous verdict, ruled that the PTI did indeed receive prohibited funding and issued a notice to the party asking why the funds should not be confiscated.
A three-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander (CEC) Sultan Raja announced the verdict in a case filed by PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar which had been pending since November 14, 2014.
The verdict, which was reserved on June 21, was expected at 10am but was delayed by almost half-an-hour.
In the written verdict the commission noted that the party “knowingly and willfully” received funding from Wootton Cricket Limited, operated by business tycoon Arif Naqvi. The party was a “willing recipient” of prohibited money of $2,121,500, it said. The ECP said that the party “knowingly and willfully” also received donations from Bristol Engineering Services (a UAE-based company), E-Planet Trustees (a Cayman Islands private registered company), SS Marketing Manchester (a UK-based private company), PTI USA LLC-6160 and PTI USA LLC-5975 which were “hit by prohibition and in violation of Pakistani laws”.
It went on to say that the party also received donations through PTI Canada Corporation and PTI UK Public Limited Company. “From both the companies, the amounts received into its accounts of PTI Pakistan are hit by prohibition and in violation of Pakistani laws.”
Further, the party received donations from Australia-based company Dunpec Limited, and Pakistani companies Anwar Brothers, Zain Cotton and Young Sports which was again in violation of the law.
“PTI Pakistan, through fundraising campaigns by PTI USA LLC-6160 and PTI USA LLC-5975, was a recipient of donations from 34 foreign nationals and 351 foreign-based companies. Collection of donations and contributions from foreign nationals and companies are hit by prohibition and in violation of Pakistani laws,” it said.
The electoral watchdog also said that the PTI had been found to be a beneficiary of donations made by Romita Shetty, a US-based business woman of Indian-origin which was in violation of the law.
The ECP said the party had only owned eight accounts before the commission and declared 13 accounts to be unknown. “The data obtained from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reveals that all the 13 accounts disowned by the PTI were opened and operated by senior PTI management and leadership at [a] central and provincial level.”
The commission noted that the party also failed to mention three accounts which were also being operated by the party’s senior leadership. Non-disclosure and concealment of 16 bank accounts by the PTI is a “serious lapse” on part of the PTI’s leadership and in violation of Article 17(3) of the Constitution, it said.
Article 17(3) says: “Every political party shall account for the source of its funds in accordance with the law.”
The PTI chairman submitted Form-I for five years (between 2008-2013) which was found to be “grossly inaccurate on the basis of the financial statements obtained by this commission from SBP and other material available on record”.
“Therefore […] the matter falls within the ambit of Article 6(3) of Political Parties Order 2002 (PPO). Hence , the commission directs that a notice may be issued to the respondent party in terms of Rule 6 of the PPO as to why the aforementioned prohibited funds may not be confiscated. The office is also directed to initiate any other action under the law in light of this order of the commission, including forwarding the case to the federal government.”
Article 6(3) of the PPO states: “Any contribution made, directly or indirectly, by any foreign government, multinational or domestically incorporated public or private company, firm, trade or professional association shall be prohibited and the parties may accept contributions and donations only from individuals.”
In its order, the commission also said that it was “constrained to hold that Imran Khan failed to discharge his obligations as mandated under the Pakistani statutes.”
The PTI chairman has for five successive years submitted Form-I and signed a certificate which is not consistent with the accounting information before us, it said.
“Imran Khan, for the five years under review, has filed submissions that were grossly inaccurate and wrong. Even during the course of scrutiny and hearing by this commission, the PTI continued to conceal and withhold complete and full disclosure of [the] source of its funds,” it said.
The security in Islamabad’s ‘red zone’ was put on high alert ahead of the ECP’s verdict. It has been decided to deploy 1,000 police personnel in the area, and the anti-riot force will also remain in the red zone. Unrelated persons will not be able to enter the Red zone.
As time for the verdict drew closer, footage broadcast on television showed Islamabad police with riot shields standing outside the building as staffers can be seen unrolling spools of concertina wire.
Later in the day, PTI Secretary General Asad Umar announced that the party would challenge the ECP verdict.
While addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said the party would file two petitions against the ECP in the Islamabad High Court. The first would be a contempt of court petition for not deciding the PPP and PML-N’s funding cases at the same time despite clear instructions from the Supreme Court and high court.
The second petition would be challenging the verdict itself, Umar said, adding that there were “deficiencies of law and facts” in the ECP decision.
Umar criticised the ECP and said it was clear that it belonged to the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s camp.
The PTI secretary general also rebutted the conclusions of the verdict and maintained that the party had disclosed all its accounts, their details and submissions. Umar said the ECP had given its decision while ignoring the evidence submitted by the PTI.
Regarding funding from prohibited sources, Umar questioned that when the US and UK had no issues with the PTI’s fundraising then why the ECP was raising issues.
Furthermore, regarding the Form-1 being inaccurate, Umar said it was not the same as a personal affidavit submitted by politicians at the time of elections.
Speaking to the media after the verdict was announced, PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry said that most of the money was from overseas Pakistanis.
“I don’t understand why the PML-N, the JUI and the PPP have declared overseas Pakistanis the enemy. We consider overseas Pakistanis to be the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and will continue to rely on them for our funding,” he said.
Commenting on the case, the PTI leader said that this was never a case of “foreign funding”, adding that this had been proven by the ECP’s decision. He went on to say that the accounts that were supposedly undeclared were not directly linked with the PTI chief.
The ex-minister said that the people deserved to know where political parties received their funding from. “No party, including the PTI, has the right to hide its funding from the people.”
You decided the PTI’s case and now we expect that you will bring to light other parties’ funding so that the people know that the law is being followed, he said while addressing the ECP.
After the verdict was announced, Babar demanded that Imran resign as the party’s chairman.
“Now that the allegations [against Imran] have been proven, it is time for a regime change in the PTI. I demand that Iman resign,” he said while speaking to media persons in Islamabad.
The PTI should be handed back to its ideological workers, he added. He also urged PTI workers to “use their mind”, terming the ECP’s verdict an “eye-opener”.
“Think, God has given you the ability to think,” he said, adding that following someone blindly was a sin.
Babar was also thankful for the “success” in the case close to eight years of struggle. “We were standing before a mountain. This fight was between the truth and power, between haq (truth) and batil (evil),” he said, adding that the ECP’s verdict was the nation’s success as he did not stand to gain anything.
The main objective behind the case was to bring about a much-needed change in Pakistan’s politics, he said. Babar said he had won a battle in a big war, adding that there were more stages to come.
“I was fighting a legal battle. Now, I will fight a political battle against Imran […] We will bring back ideological workers and call a big session,” he announced.
Babar said the ECP’s verdict confirmed the veracity of his allegations and would end Imran’s “fascism”. “It is a historic decision that will put an end to fascism,” he said.
“Today’s decision has buried the doctrine of necessity […] which brought the country’s economy and politics to the brink of destruction,” he said. He added that he expected the electoral watchdog to also conclude the cases against the PPP and the PML-N.
Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Tuesday said that the party will challenge the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP’s) verdict in court, using political and legal means.
The ECP, in a unanimous verdict, said that the PTI received foreign funds from 34 individuals and 351 businesses. The donations were sent from America, Australia, Canada, and the UAE.
In addition, PTI took funds from an American businessman, the ECP said, issuing a show-cause notice to the party.
The PTI leader said that the party met all the criteria and submitted all the evidence to come clean. “Today’s verdict proved that there was no foreign funding case. The media trial going on for years has finally come to an end today.”
Qureshi said that his party has objections against the election commission for not being impartial. “We provided everything that the commission asked us to, however, it did not seek any evidence from the other parties,” he added.
“We demand action against those parties that received funding from former Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden and Libya. They should also be held accountable,” he said.
The former foreign minister added that the coalition government had wished that the PTI should be nullified. However, “God once again made Imran Khan victorious and the government had once embarrassed itself”, he said.
Former planning minister Asad Umar dared the commission to upload the account details of PTI on its website, including those of PML-N and PPP.
Taking a swipe at the coalition government, Umar said that he wants to offer his condolences to those who were hoping that the PTI would be banned and who were waiting for the PTI’s politics to end.
“We have revealed all the accounts mentioned by the ECP,” said the former minister.
“The commission has mentioned Khan’s false affidavit. The Political Parties Act 2002 mentions a certificate and not an affidavit,” he said, adding that the ECP has violated the Supreme Court’s verdict.”
