ECP to hear PTI foreign funding case today

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is scheduled to hear today (Tuesday) an all important five-year old foreign funding case after a gap of 20 months, which involves the ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The ECP held the last regular hearing of foreign funding case in March 2018. A three-member ECP bench, comprising outgoing Chief Election Commissioner former Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza and two ECP members; former Justice Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi (Punjab) and former Justice Irshad Qaiser (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), is expected to conduct hearing of the case today.

The ECP on November 21 decided to accept the request of opposition parties to conduct daily hearings of the foreign funding case and fixed November 26 as the date to commence proceedings of the case.

A day before this development, the leaders of the Rehbar Committee, an alliance of nine anti-government political parties led by Akram Durrani, the committee's convenor visited the ECP Headquarters and met Secretary ECP Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad before submitting an application addressed to the CEC regarding foreign funding case.

In the application, the opposition leaders, except those of Jamaat-e-Islami which is not part of the Rehbar Committee, urged the CEC that "in the interest of justice, the said case may be heard on daily basis and decided at the earliest during the term of this Commission."

CEC Raza is retiring on the coming December 6 and it seems unlikely that the foreign funding case would be completed in his term at the ECP, the sources in the ECP told Business Recorder.

Recently, the CEC wrote a letter to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, asking the government to take steps for the appointment of new CEC keeping in view that the Commission would constitutionally cease to function beyond December 6, Business Recorder has learnt.

In case the deadlock between the government and opposition over the appointment of the CEC persists, the Supreme Court is constitutionally empowered to appoint an acting CEC after the incumbent CEC retires on December 6.

The Article 217 of the Constitution of Pakistan reads, "At any time when (a) the office of Commissioner is vacant, or (b) the commissioner is absent or unable to perform the functions of his office due to any other cause, a judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan shall act as commissioner."

Last week, the reports surfaced that the ECP decided to complete foreign funding case in 15 days. However, the ECP denied that it issued any directives for the completion of the foreign funding case within 15 days, implying that no timeframe was specified regarding the case's completion.

In November 2014, Akbar Sher Babar, one of the founding members of the PTI, had moved the ECP accusing the PTI of being a foreign-funded party and seeking action against it in accordance with related constitutional provisions. In the same month last year, the ECP formed a scrutiny committee headed by Director General (Law) Muhammad Arshad to scrutinise the funds of PTI and submit its report in a month but the committee has not furnished its report. On October 1, the ECP reserved verdict on four pleas by the PTI which requested the Commission to maintain 'secrecy' in the scrutiny of funding details of the party in the case on the grounds that 'false' news was being leaked about the PTI funds, which, the ruling party said, was an attempt to malign it. On October 10, the ECP announced the reserved verdict and rejected the PTI pleas.

Babar has also moved a petition in the ECP requesting the Commission to expedite the completion of foreign funding case and announce verdict accordingly.

On Sunday, the reports surfaced that the PTI's Core Committee under the chair of Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed no confidence on CEC Raza hearing the foreign funding case in the backdrop of the CEC's lingering tussle with the government on the issue of the appointment of two ECP members.

On August 22 this year, President Dr Arif Alvi appointed Khalid Mahmood Siddiqui from Sindh and Munir Ahmad Kakar from Balochistan as the ECP members but CEC Raza refused to administer oath to them citing violation of the Constitution in the appointment of these two members.

One Barrister Jahangir Khan Jadoon moved the IHC against the appointment of the two ECP members. The CEC in his written reply to the IHC stated that they had been appointed by the President without following the procedure laid down in the clauses 2A and 2B of the Article 213 of the Constitution.