Pakistan: Imran Khan's PTI under scanner after EC report on foreign funding
Jan 06, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], January 6 : Pakistan's ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan is under scanner after a report compiled by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)'s on its funding.
The foreign funding has once again put the spotlight on the murky fundraising of Pakistan parties. The report says the party received funding from foreign nationals and companies, under-reported funds, concealed numerous bank accounts, and refused to divulge details of large transactions, according to Dawn.
The Election Commission of Pakistan's report stated that the PTI provided "false information" regarding the party's funding. It's said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) statement revealed that the party had received Rs 1.64 million in funding.
The fact that the panel struggled to get details of foreign accounts and its funds abroad is troubling, though there is no explicit allegation of wrongdoing in the report, the party's resistance during the entire case raises questions, according to Dawn.
Earlier, Imran Khan has campaigned on the pledge of 'clean' and 'transparent' governance in the lead-up to the 2018 elections.
If, as the PM and PTI ministers say, the funds are genuine donations and the audit is welcome, then the party should provide details of the foreign accounts and funds in them, according to Dawn.
Earlier, the scrutiny committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) constituted in March 2019 to audit the foreign funds of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) submitted its report to the commission in November last year.
Terming the foreign funding report a "damning indictment" of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the country's two main opposition parties -- the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) -- have urged the Supreme Court (SC) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to proceed against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).
Further, PTI has demand that the PML-N and PPP's accounts be audited too by the Election Commission.
The opposition parties are right to question the ruling party's resistance in this case, but it would be interesting to see how forthcoming they would be if it came to scrutinising their own campaign accounts, according to Dawn.
