PDM to hold protest rally against Imran Khan's PTI foreign funding case

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 14 : Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb on Wednesday said that the party, under the umbrella of the 11-party opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), would hold a rally towards the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against a foreign funding case in 2014.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad along with party leaders, she said that the rally has been organised ' to get a decision from the ECP which is not being delivered since 2014', reported Dawn.
Aurangzeb was referring to a foreign funding case against Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that was filed in November 2014 by Akbar S Babar.
"The protest that the PDM is going to do on Jan 19 [is being done] to take the decision that has already been made today when the PTI has accepted that illegal funding has come through 23 foreign-funded accounts, [that] illegal funding could have been done through agents. [The PTI] accepted that money was gotten illegally through 23 foreign-funded accounts that were not declared accounts and that money was [deposited] in PTI accounts [through cheques]," she said.
She further claimed that signatures of President Arif Alvi, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and the prime minister were present on those cheques.
Imran Khan's party on Wednesday said that if any funds were collected illegally through two US companies registered after Imran Khan's written instructions, the responsibility lies with their agents managing the two limited liability companies, reported Dawn.
In a written reply to the Election Commission, the PTI said that "any contribution that has been collected by the agent which may be questionable would be beyond the scope of the work/responsibility/instructions given by the principal (respondent)".
In her press conference, Aurangzeb said that the PTI has "accepted the decision that ECP is not giving since 2014" and the PDM workers would go to the commission's office on Jan 19 to take that decision from it.
"The case was registered in 2014. What reason does the ECP have [to delay a verdict] when the PTI has accepted that agents did illegal funding? They should be ready to write the judgement," she further said.
The PML-N spokesperson further informed that all routes of the upcoming PDM rally have been decided and the preparations have been completed, which will also be attended by PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz.
The ECP committee met to continue scrutiny of PTI accounts under fresh directives to expedite the process, which has been going on since March 2018.
Earlier, the scrutiny committee had refused to share the PTI's financial documents with Babar.
Later, the petitioner said that by refusing to share the documents, the committee was in violation of an ECP order dated May 30, 2018, which rejected the PTI's request to keep these documents and the scrutiny process secret.
The body's chairman acknowledged that the PTI's bank statements and other documents were not being shared with the petitioner on the concerns of PTI. To which the petitioner Babar complained as to how there can be independent and transparent scrutiny and investigations when those being investigated are managing the process.
Imran Khan's PTI has delayed the case of "illegal foreign fundings" for almost six years.