No country for well-wishers

This Election Commission of Pakistan verdict should be no exception

As the journalistic community is in the habit of reporting the statements and words as spoken and written, this Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) verdict should be no exception. The ECP has said that ‘prohibited funding’ had been received by the PTI. The political battlefield especially on Twitter is making all the noise about foreign funding because that sound bite successfully teases the right emotion among the electorate.

One of the arguments that the ECP in its verdict lays down is that PTI received funding from Arif Naqvi even though he was involved in illegal financial activities. I am flabbergasted by how the ECP would need to be reminded that they got the chronology of this wrong. The money was received from Arif Naqvi around 2013. However, it was later around 2018 when the stories regarding Naqvi’s Abraaj Group being involved in illegal financial activities surfaced. Similarly, the rationale provided by the ECP regarding other transactions into PTI accounts is not without holes.

Regardless, there is a simple logic that needs to be considered: the allusion of foreign funding is always about the use of money to buy influence and exert control through hired proxies. The timing of this funding was around the 2013 elections when Imran Khan did not stand a chance to win. It is also important to remember that around the same time WikiLeaks revealed that Imran Khan was one of the few leaders in the world that were not under any foreign country’s influence.

Now let us consider the correlation between foreign influence and stolen cash stashed abroad. The fact that Zardari and Sharif families had stolen wealth from Pakistan and parked it in foreign lands such as Swiss bank accounts, corporations, real estate, and other investments put them in a vulnerable condition where they’d be sitting ducks for those who want to manipulate and control them. Protection of stolen wealth in foreign control is a much weaker position than receiving a little over a million dollars almost 10 years ago. And that is if we are to take at face value that this foreign funding for PTI was by nefarious individuals and companies and that PTI took the money while knowing about their wrongdoing. The opponents of Imran Khan do not have a leg to stand on, whichever way you slice it.

And that brings us to two aspects of law and constitution: letter and spirit of law. The first one means considering and using only the exact wording of the law. Spirit means the intention behind a legislation or a constitutional clause. Con artists always like to fit themselves within the framework of the letter of the law through shenanigans, manipulations, loopholes, and so forth. The spirit of prohibited or foreign funding is to prevent foreign powers from having influence over local politicians. It is common knowledge now that Imran Khan was removed from power because his rhetoric and plans were incompatible with the foreign powers that matter in Pakistan. When it comes to the spirit of prohibited funding, Imran Khan would pass with flying colours. A nation that watches morning shows should not be expected to understand this nuance.

Let us also look at another aspect of this all: The Zardari and Sharif families stuffed the cash in bags that were outbound. Imran Khan, however, brought the money home. Secondly, the two corrupt czars mentioned above stole the foreign bound cash. Imran Khan earned the inbound money abroad. Even if the supposedly misappropriation of cash for charitable causes is taken into consideration, the money has landed in Pakistan instead of ending up in Swiss accounts. However, as always, Pakistan’s resounding logo continues to be this: there are benefits in hurting Pakistan and there is hurt in benefiting Pakistan. It is alright to steal money from Pakistan by the billions, but it is not acceptable if you bring the money home from abroad.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2022.

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