ISLAMABAD, Aug 2 (APP):Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah on Tuesday praised the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for announcing a balanced verdict in the prohibited foreign funding case despite pressure from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
It was an extraordinary decision given in the difficult circumstances, he said here addressing a news conference along with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira.
Khursheed Shah alleged that Imran Khan always tried to pressurize the institutions to get favourable decisions. But the ECP deserved appreciation which gave the judgment against the PTI regardless of all the pressure exerted by him, he added.
He said the PTI chief told lies to the nation, but his all “lame excuses” were exposed by the ECP after eight years proving that his party had received ‘prohibited funds’ from foreign nationals and companies.
It was an irony that Imran Khan himself had nominated the incumbent chief election commissioner (CEC), which was seconded by the then opposition, but he was levelling allegations against him, he added.
Khursheed Shah said the Pakistan Peoples Party always supported to check irregularities in the foreign funding of the political parties. However, it did not want any unilateral action against “a certain political party and has no objection if the PPP’s accounts are scrutinized.”
Qamar Zaman Kaira, commenting on the verdict, said the PTI was reluctant to have a decision on its prohibited funding case as it knew the irregularities and today the ECP confirmed that the party had received funds from various countries, including Israel, India, the United States and Canada.
He said the ECP decision confirmed that Imran Khan was not ‘Sadiq and Ameen’ for submitting a misdeclaration, and he should resign from party’s chairmanship. The government would implement the verdict, he added.
Kaira clarified that there was no law that permitted any political party to receive funds or donations from foreign based companies. “If anyone has to do politics in Pakistan, he / she can receive funds from Pakistani citizens only,” he added.
