PTI emerges as the richest party during 2018-19

PPP, PML-N follow suit, while BAP surfaces as the poorest party

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday released details of assets owned by political parties for the fiscal year 2018-19.

According to an ECP notification, of 125 political parties registered with the commission, 82 parties have filed their consolidated statements of accounts in line with the procedure prescribed in Rule 159 of the Election Rules, 2017.

As per details, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has emerged as the richest political party while Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) as the poorest.

The details submitted by the ruling PTI show that the party owned assets worth up to Rs225.3 million despite losing assets worth Rs90 million during the year.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan submitted an affidavit with the commission that the party has received no funding from prohibited sources, saying that its expenses have crossed the revenue collection.

The PTI submitted expenditures of over Rs508 million during the year.

Similarly, the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) submitted its affidavit with the ECP, stating that it possesses a bank balance of Rs160 million, which also includes Rs13.5 million funds.

The total number of assets held by the party is worth over Rs7 million. “The party spent an amount of Rs20 million as compared to an income of over Rs5 million,” the ECP said, citing the party’s affidavit.

Another top party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), also claimed that its expenditures remained higher than the income generated during the year as the party disclosed assets worth over Rs80 million.

The party incurred an expenditure of Rs200 million during the year 2018-19 as compared to Rs15.5 million income.

BAP is amongst the poorest parties as it owns only Rs231,000 along with Railway’s Minister Sheikh Rashid’s Awami Muslim League that also has a bank balance of Rs250,000.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid has assets of up to Rs49.9 million, just above the Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan that possesses assets worth Rs41.9 million.

The Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan also declared party assets worth over Rs9 million.

Section 210 of the Election Act, 2017 provides that a political party will submit to the commission within 60 days from the close of a financial year, a consolidated statement of its accounts audited by a chartered accountant on Form-D containing annual income and expenses, sources of its funds and assets and liabilities. (With additional input from agencies)