-Files reference with ECP to disqualify Chairman PTI under Article 63
-Cabinet decides to send declaration against PTI to Supreme Court in light of ECP’s verdict
By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: A group of MNAs associated with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — a multi-party alliance with representation of ruling PML-N — on Thursday filed a reference with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) seeking the disqualification of former prime minister Imran Khan from holding public office for allegedly receiving prohibited funding from a number of foreign donors.
The reference was submitted by MNA Barrister Mohsin Nawaz Ranjha to Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, carrying signatures of lawmakers Agha Hassan Baloch, Salahudeen Ayubi, Ali Gohar Khan, Syed Rafiullah Agha and Saad Waseem Sheikh.
In its verdict on Tuesday, the election watchdog ruled that PTI had “wilfully” and “knowingly” received prohibited funding from a number of foreign donors. In its order, the commission had also said that it was “constrained to hold that Imran Khan failed to discharge his obligations as mandated under the Pakistani statutes”.
The ruling coalition began demanding disqualification of and strict legal action against the PTI chief soon after the ECP announced its verdict in the case. On Tuesday, PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman pressed upon the government to “make an example” out of Imran Khan.
“A reference should be filed against Imran Khan as he is no more Sadiq and Amin (truthful and honest),” the PDM leader had said at a press conference after a meeting of the multi-party alliance at the PM House on Wednesday to decide the line of action against Imran.
The reference filed Thursday demanded the ECP to disqualify Imran under Sections 2 and 3 of Article 63 of the Constitution, read with Article 62(1)(f). It also carried documentary evidence to corroborate their claims against the ex-PM.
Article 62(1)(f) says: “A person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) unless […] he is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law.”
Article 63(2) says: “If any question arises whether a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) has become disqualified from being a member, the Speaker or, as the case may be, the Chairman shall, unless he decides that no such question has arisen, refer the question to the Election Commission within thirty days and should he fail to do so within the aforesaid period it shall be deemed to have been referred to the Election Commission.”
While, Article 63(3) reads: “The Election Commission shall decide the question within ninety days from its receipt or deemed to have been received and if it is of the opinion that the member has become disqualified, he shall cease to be a member and his seat shall become vacant.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Cabinet on Thursday principally decided to send a “declaration” against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to the Supreme Court in light of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) verdict in its prohibited funding case.
“The PTI has been declared a foreign-aided party by the ECP in its decision which was given after eight years under the Political Parties Order 2002 and the Election Act 2017,” she said while addressing a news conference after the Federal Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
She said the Law Minister and ministry briefed the federal cabinet over the legal position of the verdict. The law ministry was given three days time to prepare the declaration for presenting it before the cabinet in its next meeting, she added.
Citing the section 3 of Political Parties Order 2002 which stated that “if a party receives any aid, financial or otherwise from any government or political party of a foreign country or any portion of its funds from a foreign nation”, she said the federal government was legally bound to take action against the PTI for “knowingly” and “willfully” receiving prohibited funding from a number of foreign firms and individuals.
She said the ECP investigated the PTI’s prohibited funding for eight years, while the party sought 51 adjournments, changed nine lawyers and filed 11 petitions with the court for seeking delay in announcement of the decision.
The minister said the PTI got enough time to justify their funding, but it failed to do so and now its leaders appeared in the media to respond to the queries over “foreign funding” to their party.
She said the people needed to understand that it was not a matter between the PTI and PML-N, but rather between the former, the State Bank of Pakistan and ECP.
The case against the foreign funding received by the PTI was filed by its own member Akbar S Babar and the PML-N had nothing to do with the matter, she added.
The minister said other aspects of the ECP’s decision were very important which were related to the “false affidavit” submitted by the PTI’s chairman and concealment of 16 bank accounts opened in the name of its senior leadership including Imran Khan and employees of the party’s secretariat.
According to Marriyum who cited the ECP’s verdict, the foreign individuals and companies which funded the PTI included Wootton Cricket Limited, Bristol engineering services, E planet Trustees, PTI USA LLC, PTI Canada Corporation, Dunpec Pty Ltd, Australia, Romita Shetty—an Indian business women, and others.
She said Imran Khan, as chairman of PTI, had submitted an affidavit with the ECP which stated that “no funds from any source prohibited under the Political Parties Order, 2002 were received by the party; statements contain an accurate financial position and the information is correct to the best of my knowledge.”
Imran Khan submitted the same affidavit to the ECP five times with his signature, Marriyum said while castigating him for consistently telling lies in writing. According to the Political Parties Order, all the parties had to submit this affidavit with the ECP every year, she added.
As it had been established that the PTI had received foreign funding in the bank accounts of its employees, the cabinet had directed the interior ministry and Federal Investigation Agency to conduct an independent and impartial inquiry into the matter while keeping in view different aspects including money laundering, fake accounts, misappropriation of funds and above all the utilization of donations for the political purposes.
The FIA had directed to immediately start an inquiry in collaboration with the relevant financial and investigative departments in light of the ECP’s verdict, she added.
It was the first time in the history of Pakistan that a party had been declared a foreign aided party, she said, adding the party accounts were used by its leadership for personal purposes.
At the outset of the cabinet’s briefing, Marriyum said fateha was offered for the military officers who embraced martyrdom in Balochistan in a helicopter crash and for those who were killed in flash floods.
