ECP reserves verdict in PTI’s ‘foreign funding’ case

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday reserved the verdict in the PTI “foreign funding” case.CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja conducted a hearing on the case at the ECP office in Islamabad.The verdict was reserved after the completion of a briefing by the financial expert brought by PTI founding member Akbar S Babar.

Babar has alleged major irregularities in the party’s finances, including in funding from outside Pakistan.ECP has now concluded the case after seven years of trial, which started in 2014, when Babar filed it. The date the verdict will be announced is yet to be revealed.

During the hearing, the financial expert maintained that audit principles and standards have been ignored in PTI’s funds. He claimed that the donors were not third parties but companies created by the party leadership.

Meanwhile, Babar also came to the rostrum to give arguments.

“It is the first time in history that a political party is giving details for its funding sources to the ECP. Every political party should be answerable before the Commission,” Babar said.

Meanwhile, CEC Sultan Raja thanked the parties for cooperating and providing details.

“We have to restore the voters’ trust and strengthen the country democratically,” he said.

He said that the cases of other parties will also be concluded soon and the Commission will ensure that there is no discrimination.

The PTI hid funds worth millions of rupees from the ECP, the report of an ECP scrutiny committee probing the party’s funds had revealed on January 4.

The report stated that the PTI provided “false information” regarding the party’s funding to the ECP. It said that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP’s) bank statement revealed that the party had received Rs1.64 billion in funding.According to the report, the party did not disclose funding worth more than Rs310 million to the ECP.The scrutiny committee was formed in 2019 to audit foreign funding received by the PTI.