Islamabad [Pakistan], 27 January (ANI): In an interesting development in the case of foreign funding of Pakistan’s Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Prime Minister Imran Khan, Akbar S Babar, one of the founding members of the ruling party, on Tuesday submitted an application to Pakistan’s General Election Commission (ECP) oversight committee, challenged his decision to keep PTI financial records secret from him.
Seeking transparency in the case of foreign funding, the applicant said the application was intended to ‘test’ Imran Khan’s offer for live coverage of the case, reports Dawn.
In his application, Babar challenged the committee’s decision to keep PTI’s financial records secret, including 23 bank reports, from him regarding the prime minister’s offer.
The applicant and his legal advisers have reiterated that as long as genuine and legal transparency issues are not addressed, including sharing all PTI financial documents with the committee, they will continue to participate in committee oversight processes under protest, Dawn reported.
Babar says it is the nation’s right to know the truth. “We have submitted a request to test PM Khan’s offer to end secrecy,” he said.
A copy of the application demanding the sharing of all documents in connection with PM Khan’s final offer to end secrecy was also provided to the PTI representative who attended the trial.
Sources informed that an interesting situation developed when PTI representatives showed reluctance even to accept a copy of Babar’s application. It was agreed that PTI would respond to the request at its next meeting to have the oversight committee decide on the matter, Dawn reported.
In addition, the petitioner said the real challenge facing the prime minister is from a system that refuses to give justice to the weak against the ruling. He said the PTI had been formed to change this system and instead of changing this rotten system, Khan was in charge.
The foreign funding case against PTI was filed in November 2014 by Babar. He has demonstrated serious financial irregularities in PTI’s accounts.
Six years have passed since the case was filed. However, it had not yet reached a conclusion.
Previously, the ECP oversight committee had refused to share PTI records claiming to be “educated advisors to complainants.” [Babar] Was informed that a copy of the document submitted by the defendant [PTI] cannot be provided at this stage because the respondent strongly opposes it, “said the order of the examining committee dated December 2, 2019.
In addition, on January 20, the ECP oversight committee had set a new precedent when it left its own meeting after questions emerged about the credibility of the vetting process. The committee has previously been accused of being lenient with Khan and PTI by the Pakistani opposition.
The 11-member Democratic Movement of Pakistan (PDM) has also demonstrated against the ECP by gathering outside its offices on January 19 to demand a swift decision on the case for foreign funding. (ANI)