Govt can declare PTI foreign-funded party: Rana Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD: Hailing the judgment of the Election Commission of Pakistan in the prohibited funding case against the PTI, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Wednesday said that the government can declare the political party as a “foreign-funded party” on the basis of irrefutable evidence.

Speaking to Geo News,  Rana Sanaullah said that PTI would be dissolved if the Supreme Court upholds the declaration of the government.

“ECP has made 100% correct decision,” the interior minister said, adding that the judgment proved PTI is a foreign-funded party. He accused the party of hiding its accounts and tempering its financial record.

The PML-N leader, citing the ECP verdict, said the PTI accepted funds from 34 foreigners and 351 companies in violation of the Political Party Act and the Election Act.

ECP’s ruling proved Khan a “lawyer and forger”, the interior minister said, adding that the ruling alliance has devised its future plan after the verdict. He maintained that they would show the real face of Imran Khan to the people.

ECP rules PTI received prohibited funds

A day earlier, the ECP in a unanimous verdict, ruled that the PTI received funds from "prohibited" sources.

In its verdict, the ECP said that the party, in violation of the Constitution, had received funds from 34 foreigners. The party received funds from US, Australia and UAE.

The party accepted funds from a US business personality, it said, and added, “13 unidentified accounts also surfaced during the probe in the PTI funding case.”

The ECP said that the PTI had submitted a false affidavit about the party’s accounts. PTI Chairman Imran Khan had submitted a false F1 form to the ECP, it added.

PTI insists ECP fails to prove foreign funding

After a damning verdict by the ECP, PTI leader Farrukh Habib said that foreign funding was not proved against the party.

The verdict disappointed those who were pushing the narrative of foreign funding against the PTI, said Farrukh Habib. He maintained that they were of the view that it was a case of prohibited funding but not of foreign funding.

Raising questions over the ECP, the PTI leader said that the IHC had ordered to probe the accounts of all the political parties without any discrimination.

He said that the scrutiny committee tasked to probe the accounts of PTI completed its work on time but the committees established to check the accounts of PPP and PML were yet to submit their report.