Daily Times

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) must spare a thought for James Madison’s words: A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps, both. What James Madison said in 1832 has not lost its relevance in 2019 when the PTI, as a political party, has been dragging the foreign funding case for almost five years. Now, in weird manners, the core committee of the PTI has questioned the impartiality of the incumbent chief election commissioner, retired Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza, who has decided to hold the case’s hearings on a day-to-day basis. The party also wants the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to club the similar cases of the PML-N and the PPP, another tactic to delay the verdict. In a country where the backlog of cases casts doubt over the entire justice system, the court’s resolve should have been appreciated. Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa, when he assumed the office last year, made his prime resolve to tackle the huge backlog. On the other hand, the ECP still pursues cases at a snail’s pace.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcast Firdous Ashiq Awan says the chief election commissioner is showing urgency in deciding the case and that “the ECP should follow rules, give equal opportunities to all the parties and conduct across-the-board accountability.” Her stance is justified, but the ECP has given opportunities to the satisfaction of all parties to present their defence. And still, they can avail the time as the ECP has not set a deadline to pronounce the verdict. No one can deny the fact that the PTI is popular among overseas Pakistanis and political fundraising is a norm across the world. Petitioner Akbar S. Babar, a PTI dissident, however, says millions of dollars were illegally transferred to accounts belonging to those working with the party. He moved the court in 2014, and since then proceedings have been slow, mostly because of the moves by the PTI. Soon, though, the final verdict should be out. *