PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry finds ECP ruling flawed

The chief spokesman for Khan’s party says the funding in question may have come from abroad, but it all came from overseas Pakistanis.

By Naveed Naqvi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry said Tuesday it had been his party’s position from the beginning that it received funding from overseas Pakistanis, which is not illegal.

“Today the Election Commission has also admitted that this is not foreign funding”, said the chief spokesman for former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party in response to an Election Commission of Pakistan ruling that found his party guilty of accepting prohibited funding.

He then termed the Election Commission’s decision in the foreign funding case as wrong. “I don’t understand why PML-N, JUI and People’s Party and others have considered Overseas Pakistanis as their enemies”.

“From the beginning, our position is clear that this is not foreign funding”, he said. “Except PTI, no party takes foreign funding because we consider them backbone for Pakistan, we will continue to depend on funding from overseas Pakistanis.

“Now the next phase will begin in which we will clarify that 16 accounts are also legal”, he said, and added that no party had the right to hide its funding from the public. “The auditor also said that these accounts are clear, these 16 accounts are subsidiary accounts”, he maintained.

Chaudhry claimed there are decisions of the Supreme Court and the High Court that the Election Commission should decide the cases of the other parties.

He also took to twitter to fire some fiery tweets targeting the Pakistan Democratic Front (PDM) coalition with allegations of sponsoring a campaign against overseas Pakistanis. “PTI remains indebted to overseas Pakistanis for their love and support and we will continue our trust on overseas Pakistanis they are as patriotic Pakistanis if not more than Pakistanis living in Pakistan.

In another tweet, he questioned the legal acumen of the ECP, and showcased his own, saying, “Since CEC and members have weak legal background, they failed to differentiate between affidavit and certificate. Imran Khan submitted a certificate on audited accounts. This is not a case of misdeclaration”.

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