Shibli throws down gauntlet to opposition

ISLAMABAD:

Throwing down the gauntlet to the opposition parties, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Sunday said the PTI has submitted all record of its donations to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) scrutiny committee, adding that now it was the opposition parties’ turn to do the same.

The foreign funding case against the PTI has been dotting the country’s political landscape for more than six years. Filed in November 2014 by Akbar S Babar, a founding member of the party, the case pertains to allegations that the PTI has taken funds from dubious, prohibited and illegal sources -- a charge vehemently contested by the ruling party.

The ECP has summoned both the PML-N and PPP today (Monday) in connection with the foreign funding case. Both parties have been issued notices to appear before the scrutiny committee and present their defence.

The Pakistan Democratic Movement opposition alliance also scheduled a demonstration in front of the ECP offices on January 19 to highlight the delay in concluding the case against the ruling PTI.

Shibli said as far as the PTI foreign funding case was concerned, the party had submitted records of its donations for elections to the ECP scrutiny committee ever since the orders of the Supreme Court.

"These are 40,000 entries of names, addresses, numbers [and] authenticated transactions which came through proper banking channels and deposited into party accounts," the minister said.

He said it was required of all political parties to submit financial records of the last five years once they received their election symbol from the ECP yet "in the past, institutions were manipulated [and records were not submitted]".

On the contrary, he said, the parties of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) have not been able to submit replies regarding foreign funding till date.

"In their attempts to trap us, they've themselves become trapped," Shibli said, referring to the parties in the PDM.

"We've presented all our records upfront, and now when the discussion has turned towards them to provide proofs of their funding [...] they haven't provided any answers to the scrutiny committee."

He said the opposition parties instead of giving answers to the ECP only pointed fingers at the PTI. Referring to the PDM's Jan 19 protest plan, the minister said the opposition parties and their leadership were obligated to instead present themselves on Monday and provide all relevant details asked of them so the nation could know "who are the liars".

He termed the protest announcement s nothing but a "stubborn effort to mislead the people and pressurise institutions".

Shibli said the PDM's journey was based on "nothing but threats" and the movement had already become a thing of the past. After playing every available card and suffering defeat on every front, he said the opposition had only one card left, "to repeat a lie so much [...] to give it the impression of a truth".

The Election Commission scrutiny committee repeatedly asked for the identity cards and addresses of the persons who donated for both the parties but they had failed to provide any satisfactory answer.

He said both the former ruling parties had acted as if the country was their personal property.

He asked them to submit the details to the Election Commission so that public should know who was a liar and fraud.

He asked the PDM leaders to appear before the scrutiny committee and submit the required documents and account for illicit funding instead of hiding behind protesting gangs.

Shibli said when the National Accountability Bureau sent notice to Maulana Fazlur Rehman he threatened to hold a sit-in in front of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which proved that he had no proofs to satisfy the bureau.

Similarly, he said they have been making hue and cry about rigging in the 2018 elections but have not provided a single proof.

Responding to another question, the information minister said the PDM has been discredited -- both nationally and internationally -- as they had been trying to hoodwink the masses to protect their corruption. “The people have rejected their narrative.”

Shibli said as the prime minister had already predicted that the opposition would get united against him and they gathered under one umbrella to protect their corruption.

He said during their rule, both the PPP and the PML-N paralysed the national institutions. He said both the parties had appointed their cronies in the national institutions who used to protect their interests at the cost of national interests.

Shibli said the Pakistan Democratic Movement was a matter of the past as the masses had rejected their narrative and refused to join their protest rallies which were meant to protect their looted money. “The parties have played all their cards.”

Shibli said the PDM has faced defeat and embarrassment on all fronts. The minister said it was ironic that those who were benefited from the National Reconciliation Ordinance were accusing the present government of wrongdoings in the Broadsheet issue.

Addressing the news conference, Parliamentary Secretary for Railways Farrukh Habib said the PML-N and the PPP had failed to provide details of their party funds and expenditures before a scrutiny committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the last four years, despite repeated orders.

He said all political parties were constitutionally bound to submit details of their funds, expenditures and sources with the ECP.

He said submission of the party funds' detail was an 'open and shut' matter and there should be no confusion on it.

He said a scrutiny committee of the ECP had time and again asked the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) during the last four years to provide details of the party fund sources and its utilization.

In the given scenario, Habib said the PDM leadership had no moral ground to stage a protest in front of the ECP office on January 19, against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that had submitted the complete detail of party funds comprised around 40,000 entries, invoices, CNICs and addresses of donors and expenditures.

The parliamentary secretary said that it was a fact that the PMLN chief had received millions of rupees from Osama bin Laden in the past to topple the legitimate government of Benazir Bhutto.

Under the law, it was mandatory for both the PML-N and the PPP to give details of party funds and expenditures to ECP and nation, he maintained.

Habib said that it was also necessary to know about that the two parties received funds from which channels -Hundi, Hawala or money-laundering.

 

 

With additional input from APP and News Desk