ECP approves daily hearings of foreign funding case against PTI

By
Nausheen Yusuf
|

ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (R) Sardar Raza on Thursday gave the go-ahead for daily hearings of the foreign funding case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

A day earlier, the opposition parties' Rahbar Committee had requested the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct daily hearings of the case before the chief election commissioner completes his tenure next month.

According to Geo News, the chief election commissioner and member Election Commission Khyber Pakhtunkhwa granted the request.

The ECP, as per sources, has directed the scrutiny committee to wrap up the foreign funding case "as early as possible". 

The Rahbar Committee contended in the memorandum signed by its members that the foreign funding case against PTI had been pending before the ECP for the last five years and that the tenure of the office of the chief election commissioner and members would come to an end next month.

“We urge that the case hearing may be held on a daily basis and decided at the earliest and during the term of the incumbent members,” the committee said.

There is nothing in the case: PM Imran

Prime Minister Imran Khan during a meeting of government spokespersons reportedly told participants not to worry about the case.

"No need to worry about the foreign funding case. PTI's audit reports are there for all to see," he was quoted as saying.

Sources quoted PM Imran as saying that opposition parties were using the case to keep their politics alive and build a narrative against the PTI.

ECP kicks off investigation into PPP, PML-N

Meanwhile, the ECP has started investigating the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as well in the foreign funding case, with a notice sent to both the parties on Wednesday.

The ECP has directed representatives of PPP and the PML-N to present themselves before the scrutiny committee of the commission on November 26.

Both the PPP and PML-N have been accused of receiving illegal funds from the US and UK, according to the petition filed by PTI’s Farrukh Habib.