Foreign funding case: ECP faces major challenge owing to PTI, PML-N, PPP's lack of interest

The lack of interest of all the three major political parties, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to pursue the foreign funding case, appears to be a major challenge for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take the high-profile case to its logical conclusion.

The ECP's scrutiny committee hearing the foreign funding case related to the PTI, the PML-N and the PPP is still awaiting response of the PML-N and the PPP to the questions/objections raised by the committee regarding the evidence both the opposition parties submitted in the case, Business Recorder has learnt.

So far, only the PTI has responded to the relevant queries, while the PML-N and the PPP have not yet submitted replies to the questions raised by the scrutiny committee, an ECP official told Business Recorder.

"But even the PTI is reluctant to pursue the case, which explains why Prime Minister Imran Khan recently moved the Supreme Court challenging ECP's jurisdiction to hear the case," the source said.

Earlier, in September last year, the PTI moved four pleas in the ECP requesting the commission to maintain "secrecy" in the scrutiny of funding details of the ruling 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 to reject the PTI pleas.

The ECP on November 21, 2019, had decided to accept the request of opposition parties to conduct on daily basis the hearings of the foreign funding case related to the PTI and fixed November 26 as the date to commence proceedings of the case, after a gap of 20 months.

Before the November 26 hearing, the ECP last held the regular hearing of foreign funding case in March 2018 when the scrutiny committee was formed to scrutinise the PTI funds.

The PTI also requested the ECP that the foreign funding case related to the PML-N and the PPP should also be heard by the ECP.

The ECP accepted this demand and also commenced proceedings of foreign funding case related to the PML-N and the PPP from November 26.

The ECP source said that the PML-N and the PPP had strongly stressed the ECP to resume proceedings of foreign funding case related to the PTI but the two opposition parties are not happy with the ECP's decision to also hear foreign funding cases concerning to the PML-N and the PPP.

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.

Shah Khawar is PTI's counsel in the case whereas Ahmad Hassan represents Akbar S Babar. The PML-N is represented by Jahangir Jadoon and the PPP is represented by Shehbaz Khosa.