ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday said that the commission had the authority to sort out embezzlement in party funds and funding from foreign countries. The ECP rejected a plea by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that had questioned its constitutional jurisdiction to hear a petition on PTI’s funding. It said the ECP had the authority to probe the embezzlement in party funds and foreign funding of the PTI. The five-member full bench of ECP, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza, rejected the PTI’s plea. The case was filed in November 2014 by a PTI founding member and former central information secretary Akbar S Babar, alleging financial corruption and violation of laws in collecting donations and managing the PTI funds. The CEC announced to scrutinise the PTI documents from October 10 as the next date of hearing. A written order is expected soon. Earlier, on April 1, 2015, the full bench of the ECP had passed an order that the declarations made by the PTI in their audit report did not disclose source and details of foreign funds. In its written order of April 1, the Election Commission had declared that during the “last date of hearing it was decided that original declaration of assets filed by the respondents (PTI) with the commission be examined to ascertain the authenticity of certain audit reports.” The declarations so made from year to year were requisitioned from the offices, which were examined in the light of Form-I prepared under Rule 4. The Column 6 of the form pertained to the sources of funds with details. The declarations so submitted do not contain source of funds with details. Instead of complying with the order of the ECP, the PTI appointed a new lawyer, Anwar Mansoor Khan, who once against contested the jurisdiction of the ECP to hear the case instead of sharing the foreign funding details. The case has generated great public interest after reports of PTI funding by foreigners and foreign companies, including Jewish American Barry C Schneps and US-born Indian Indur Dosanjh, surfaced. The petitioner alleges that on the basis of evidence provided, the PTI and its leadership has acted in utter violation of articles 3, 5, 6, and 13 of the Political Parties Order, 2002 (the 2002 Order) read with Rules 4, 5, 6 of the Political Parties Rules, 2002 (the 2002 Rules). Legal experts point to the potential serious consequences for the PTI, including dissolution of the party if it is proved that it had received illegal foreign funding under Article 15 of the Political Parties Order 2002. Talking to reporters outside the ECP, Babar stated that he remained convinced that the PTI must change from within if it was serious about changing the society, which remains the primary objective of the case filed in the ECP. He said he was seriously considering former governor Punjab’s public challenge to him during a TV talk show to file a complaint in the US. Babar, flanked by his lawyer Ahmed Hasan Shah and Syed Hasan Shah, founding PTI president district Attock Malik Zaeem, Imran Khan’s fund manager for SKMT and PTI Mahmood Khan, PTI Islamabad, stated that a national conference was being planned in Islamabad to unite all the PTI’s ideological workers from Pakistan and abroad. He said Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed would also be invited to the national conference to chalk a future strategy of saving the PTI from traditional politics and politicians and cleanse the party of corrupt elements. Babar stated he believed that the case would prove to be a landmark to regulate political parties with far-reaching consequences to bring transparency and accountability within the political parties. Political parties are public entities and must be regulated under the relevant laws. “As long as political parties are not institutionalised, democracy would remain a tool to enter the corridors of power to serve vested interests. The lack of regulation of political parties has turned them into personal fiefdoms which are run by individuals acting as emperors,” he noted.
