Daily Times

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry Sunday asked in what capacity the Election Commission was issuing a notice to the party chairman and former prime ministerImran Khan.

The ECP Friday issued a notices to Imran summoning him for a hearing in compliance with its judgment in the prohibited funding case.

Reacting to the ECP’s ruling, Fawad said the party had received Rs20 million in 13 accounts.

“This amount was released to the party officials for office operations. In what capacity is the FIA issuing notices to the PTI leaders?” he asked.

The FIA started its probe into the party’s accounts on Saturday.

Speaking of another case fixed for hearing by the ECP, which pertains to the question of disqualification of Imran Khan, Chaudhry remarked: “Who has the guts to disqualify Imran Khan?”

“Do you want to create a one-party system in Pakistan?” he asked.

Fawad said that the party had made preparations for the “final stage” of their ongoing anti-government campaign.

“A historic rally will be held on August 13,” he said, adding: “We will not let them run away from [holding] elections.”

Fawad said that the PPP’s “account auditors are nowhere to be found” and that it wasn’t the PPP, rather the PPP parliamentarians that fought the election.

He further said that instead of the party leader, it was the general secretary that submitted the certificate to declare expenses of Rs232 million.

“Money coming from America came directly to Zardari’s account,” he alleged. “There is no proof of the LLC created by the PPP,” he alleged further. For the PML-N, he said “there is no information at all regarding the sources of its funds”.

“They also used their accounts for money laundering. This is the case that the ECP must hear and decide on,” he added.

Fawad recalled that the Islamabad High Court had directed the Election Commission to decide on the case of the funding of all parties, but it only issued a verdict on the PTI’s funding.

“According to the law every political party has to be audited. One party cannot fund another party,” he said. Why is the Election Commission saving PML-N and PPP?” he wanted to know. “It seems that the Election Commission does not care about its reputation,” he said, adding that “the Election Commission did not have respect even earlier”.

Earlier in the day, the PTI leader responded to the remarks by Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah, saying that he is about as important as the Kohsar police station’s SHOand that he should “speak according to his status”.

He cautioned against the minister having to deal with more than he bargained for, without elaborating any further.

“It’s better to be safe,” he added.

Fawad said his party had submitted complete details of 13 accounts to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Fawad said the government had lost its cool over funding of PTI and it had exaggerated amount of funds the party had received.

The former minister also asked under what jurisdiction Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is sending to notices to PTI leaders.

He questioned the summons the party leaders received from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), saying they did not hold public office in 2011-12 – the period in which the party purportedly received prohibited funding.

“I do not understand in what capacity FIA is issuing notices to our leaders. These people were not public officeholders in 2011-12. We are, however, cooperating with the FIA.”

Fawad further stated that it had been decided to formulate a police joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the May 25 incidents.

He said notices will be issued to Rana Sanaullah, Hamza Shehbaz, Attaullah Tarar and Malik Ahmed Khan to record statements before the cops pertaining to the May 25 fiasco during which they were nominated in several FIRs for the day.

“Dozens of FIRs were registered to note law violations on May 25,” he added.

“CCPO Lahore and DIG Operations will also submit replies to the JIT,” the former information minister maintained.

He also called for conducting an annual audit of all political parties, adding that there should be no “leniency” in this regard. However, he regretted that the Election Commission had become “a subsidiary of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)”.

He said that the party would approach the courts for the PML-N’s audit to be finalised within 15 days. He went on to claim that the PML-N had spent Rs1.3 billion on media campaigns but had not mentioned any source. “They also used their accounts for money laundering. This is the case that the ECP must hear and decide on.”

Turning his guns to the PPP, he said that ex-president Asif Ali Zardari headed one part of the party while Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari headed another.

“The explanation they gave was that one party funded the other. But under the ECP rules, no political party can fund another party. The PPP has shown its expenses but has not revealed where the money was spent.”

Fawad questioned why the electoral watchdog was “protecting” the PPP and the PML-N, urging the scrutiny committee to announce its decision in these cases.

He also claimed that certain “journalists and Baloch insurgents” were harping on about PTI chief Imran Khan’s disqualification. “Who has the courage to disqualify Imran? You are not announcing elections because you fear he will win a two-thirds majority,” he said, adding that a campaign was underway against the former premier.

Commenting on the piecemeal acceptance of the resignations of PTI lawmakers, Fawad said that ex-deputy speaker Qasim Suri had already accepted them all and the current speaker “had no right [to accept them in the manner he did]”.

“The government is holding by-election on nine seats because it is fed up with its allies.

They want to gather seats gradually to secure a majority. This is their political move,” he said.